Read Love at First Note for Free Online

great. I’d love to if they’ll let me.”
    Huh. “So Asheville is good enough for you, just not good enough for me?”
    He cocked an eyebrow. “My star was never destined to shine as bright as yours, Em. You know that as well as I do.”
    I huffed. “And you know I would never put my career over my family.”
    “That’s true,” he agreed. “I do know that about you.”
    It was hard not to feel like Grayson was throwing me a woeful “too bad your star has dimmed” pity party. A part of me wanted to lay it out there and explain all the reasons I’d walked away from my growing career. But I resisted, mostly because I didn’t need to justify my choices to Grayson but also because I knew if I started down that road, it would be tough not to throw my own dang pity party. What was done was done. Rehashing the why and how of my departure from Cleveland wouldn’t change anything.
    Grayson ate in silence for a moment while I picked at my food. I wasn’t annoyed, really. I didn’t think Grayson was trying to be hurtful, but career discussions always left me feeling unsettled.
    When the conversation shifted to high school memories and old friends, the tension in the back of my throat finally started to ease. Talking about the past felt easy, familiar even. We joked; we reminisced. I even managed to eat another taco.
    And it was fine. I enjoyed Grayson’s company, and we had a nice time. But I couldn’t help but wonder:
why
was I eating tacos with my past instead of eating pizza with my potential (in a perfectly reasonable, not overzealous way) future?

Chapter 4
    I pushed into my apartment on weak legs to see Lilly and Trav at the kitchen table playing a game of Scrabble. I left my bag on the couch, kicked off Lilly’s old shoes, and went to the fridge for a bottle of water. I dropped my leftover tacos on the table next to Trav. “You want those? They came from Rosa’s.”
    “You went to Rosa’s and had leftovers? How does that even happen?” Trav asked.
    “I ate two of the four. That’s not too bad.”
    Trav opened the carton and wolfed down a taco in two bites, bits of cilantro clinging to his beard.
    “Seriously?” Lilly said. “Did you even chew it? How are you even hungry after eating all of Elliott’s pizza?”
    Trav’s mouth was already full of his second taco. “It’s Rosa’s.”
    Lilly shook her head and tossed him a napkin. “You are a barbarian.” She finally looked my way. “What’s up with you? How was rehearsal?”
    I took a long swig of water. “Bruno’s playing super grandpa in Florida, so he sent one of his old students to fill in for him until he’s back in town.”
    Lilly shifted forward. “Okaaayy . . . you just said that like it should mean something to me, and I got nothing.”
    “The new cellist?” I paused a moment longer, watching Lilly lean so far forward she almost lost her position on her stool. “ It’s Grayson Harper.”
    She toppled forward, catching herself before she hit the floor, her eyes wide. “What? Your Grayson Harper?”
    I nodded. “Crazy, right? He’s living in Hendersonville. I guess he’s been back a few years now.”
    “And he still plays the cello? That’s totally hot. Wait, is it? Is he still hot?”
    “Maybe hotter,” I said. “I mean, he looks older, but yeah. He’s barely changed.”
    Trav leaned forward, propping himself up with his elbows and batting his eyelashes. “So are we talking like hotter-than-Elliott-Hart hot?”
    I shook my head. “No one’s hotter than Elliott Hart. So what was he like?”
    “He was really nice,” Lilly said. “You need to go over and introduce yourself.”
    “I can’t just walk over without a reason. That would be weird.”
    Trav gave a good-natured huff. “No weirder than Lilly inviting him to sleep on your cou ch fifteen seconds after she met him.”
    “He was going to sleep on the floor,” Lilly said. “And I knew he was a nice guy. He’s a Mormon.”
    “Ah, the Mormons,” Trav said.