Maybe Someday(12)

Me: Everything okay?

Ridge: Yep.

Me: Good.

Ridge: I’m only going to say this once,

Sydney. Are you ready?

Me: Oh, God. No. I’m turning off my

phone.

Ridge: I know where you live.

Me: Fine.

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Ridge: You’re incredible. Those lyrics. I

can’t even describe to you how perfect

they are for the song. How in the hell

does that come out of you? And why can’t

you see that you need to LET it come out

of you? Don’t hold it in. You’re doing the

world a huge disservice with your mod-

esty. I know I agreed not to ask you for

more, but that was because I really didn’t

expect to get what I got from you. I need

more. Give me, give me, give me.

I let out a huge breath. Until this moment, I

didn’t realize exactly how much his opinion

mattered. I can’t look up at him yet. I continue to

stare at my phone for much longer than it takes

me to read the text. I don’t even text him back,

because I’m still relishing the compliment. If he

said he loved it, I would have accepted his opin-

ion with relief, and I would have moved on. But

the words he just texted were like stairs stacked

one on top of the other, and each compliment was

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like me running up each step until I reached the

top of the damn world.

Holy crap. I think this one text just gave me

enough confidence to send him another song. I

never would have predicted this. I never ima-

gined I would be excited.

“Food’s here,” Tori says. “You want to eat out

here?”

I tear my gaze away from the phone and look

at her. “Uh. Yeah. Sure.”

Tori brings the food out to the balcony. “I’ve

never really looked at that guy before, but damn,”

she says, staring hard at Ridge while he plays his

guitar. “He’s really hot, and I don’t even like

blonds.”

“His hair isn’t blond. It’s brown.”

“No, that’s blond,” she says. “But it’s dark

blond, so that’s okay, I guess. Almost brown,

maybe. I like the messy shag, and that body

makes up for the fact that his hair isn’t black.”

Tori takes a drink and leans back in her chair,

still staring at him. “Maybe I’m being too picky.

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What do I care what color his hair is? It’ll be

dark when I have my hands in it, anyway.”

I shake my head. “He’s really talented,” I say.

I still haven’t responded to his text, but he

doesn’t seem to be waiting around. He’s watch-

ing his hands as he plays, not paying a bit of at-

tention to us.

“I wonder if he’s single,” Tori says. “I’d like

to see what other talents he has.”

I have no idea if he’s single, but the way Tori

is thinking about him makes my stomach turn.

Tori is incredibly cute, and I know she could find

out if he had other talents if she really wanted to.

She tends to get whomever she wants in the guy

department. I’ve never really minded until now.

“You don’t want to be involved with a musi-

cian,” I say, as if I have any experience that

would qualify me to give her advice. “Besides,

I’m pretty sure Ridge does have a girlfriend. I

saw a girl on his patio with him a few weeks

ago.” That’s technically not a lie. I did see one

once.

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Tori glances at me. “You know his name?

How do you know his name?”

I shrug as if it’s no big deal. Because, honestly,

it is no big deal. “He needed help with lyrics last week, so I texted him some.”

She sits up in her chair. “You know his phone

number?”

I suddenly become defensive, not liking the ac-

cusatory tone in her voice. “Calm down, Tori. I

don’t even know him. All I did was text him a

few lyrics.”

She laughs. “I’m not judging, Syd,” she says,

holding up her hands in defense. “I don’t care

how much you love Hunter, if you have an open-

ing with that”—she flicks her hand in Ridge’s direction—“I’d be livid if you didn’t take advantage of it.”

I roll my eyes. “You know I’d never do that to

Hunter.”

She sighs and leans back in her chair. “Yeah. I

know.”

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We’re both looking at Ridge when he finishes

the song. He picks up his phone and types

something, then picks up his guitar just as my

phone vibrates and he begins to play another

song.

Tori reaches for my phone, but I grab it first

and hold it out of her reach. “That’s from him,