Hearts on Air (Hearts #6)

  Hearts on Air

  L.H. Cosway

  Contents

  Playlist

  Author Newsletter

  Introduction

  One Epic Night

  Part 1

  Part 2

  Hearts on Air

  Preface

  Prologue

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  Four.

  Five.

  Six.

  Seven.

  Eight.

  Nine.

  Ten.

  Eleven.

  Twelve.

  Thirteen.

  Fourteen.

  Fifteen.

  Sixteen.

  Seventeen.

  Eighteen.

  Nineteen.

  Twenty.

  Twenty-One.

  Twenty-Two.

  Twenty-Three.

  Twenty-Four.

  Twenty-Five.

  Twenty-Six.

  Twenty-Seven.

  Twenty-Eight.

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Books by L.H. Cosway

  Sneak Peek: New Series!

  L.H. Cosway’s HEARTS Series

  Copyright © 2017 L.H. Cosway

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by RBA Designs.

  Editing by Marion Archer at Making Manuscripts.

  Spanish translations by Dalitza M.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

  Playlist

  Check out the author’s playlist for Hearts on Air HERE.

  Author Newsletter

  To keep up-to-date with all of L.H. Cosway’s news, new releases, exclusives and appearances, sign up for the author newsletter HERE.

  Introduction

  Have you read Trevor and Reya’s prequel story, One Epic Night? If the answer is yes, then please continue to Hearts on Air. If no, then please read on.

  It is highly recommended that you read One Epic Night before continuing to Hearts on Air.

  One Epic Night

  A Hearts Story

  BY L.H. COSWAY

  Part I

  I was busking on the street, singing an “ironic” cover of Wrecking Ball when I opened my eyes and saw him.

  Trevor Cross, one of my best friends/bane of my existence sat with his legs dangling off the edge of a shop rooftop. He was my best friend because he was one of the most hilarious and fun people to be around. And he was the bane of my existence because he was a hyper-active livewire who, for some reason, enjoyed being in my company. Dealing with him sometimes felt like trying to circumnavigate a mine field. I changed the lyrics as I sang and wondered if he’d notice.

  You came in like a wrecking ball.

  That was Trev down to a T. Destructive. Addictive. Fascinating. Frustrating. Too full of energy to ever pin down. At times he wrecked me. Other times he built me up. Our relationship was…complicated. And yet, we’d never even kissed.

  He often liked to turn up unannounced like this. He knew my routine off by heart, so if he wanted to he could always find me. I busked every afternoon, Tuesday to Saturday, and in the evenings I gave private piano lessons. I usually played a club gig on Saturday nights, then had Sunday and Monday off. I tended to make a pretty steady income week on week.

  Trevor watched me with a serious look on his face, his head tilted to one side as though in contemplation. He’d heard me sing countless times before, so I didn’t really get what was different today.

  Most of the time, I got one of two Trevors. The flamboyant, loud-mouthed, piss-taking one normally came out when we were around other people, while the more serious, introspective, thoughtful one made an appearance when it was just the two of us. If I wasn’t acquainted with his more low-key side, then we probably wouldn’t have stayed friends this long. There was only so much hyperactivity a person could handle.

  We met almost two and a half years ago through my girlfriend, Karla, who at the time was having a clandestine relationship with Trevor’s brother, Lee. Trev latched onto me from the very first night we met, charming me, making me laugh, making me feel like the most important and interesting person in the world. I’d come to learn that’s what he did. His liveliness made you feel like a better version of yourself, someone far more exciting than who you really were.

  When I finished the song Trev effortlessly jumped down from his spot on the roof, a skill honed through his years of dedication to parkour. As he crossed the street he pulled a lollipop from his pocket, ripped off the packaging and stuck it in his mouth.

  “To what do I owe this pleasure?” I asked once he reached me.

  His mischievous blue eyes caught the light in a way that almost made them appear otherworldly. He took his time sucking on the lolly, then pulled it out with a loud popping sound.

  “Just came to check up on my favourite girl. I haven’t heard you sing that one before. Never took you for a Miley fan,” he grinned, goading me.

  “Course I am. She’s got more grit than Taylor,” I answered, smiling as I moved to pack up my keyboard. Trev came forward and pushed my hands away when I went to fold up the stand.

  “I’ve got it. You go grab your cash before someone tries to steal it.”

  “Okay, um, thanks,” I said and went to pick up the hat I left out for passers-by to throw money in. Once everything was packed, Trev lifted my keyboard case and gestured for me to lead the way.

  “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

  “Somebody’s feeling very helpful today. What are you after?” I asked, suspicious.

  He put his hand to his heart as though offended. “Can’t a fella help out his best friend simply because he feels like it?”

  “Yes, a fella can. You, on the other hand, always seem to have something up your sleeve.”

  He let out a slow breath, his gaze moving lazily over my features, down to my chest and then back up again. I was used to him looking at my boobs. It was par for the course with him. And since I’d been born with an ample pair, it seemed like a losing battle to get someone like Trev not to ogle them. I ran my hands down my long burgundy dress, feeling self-conscious. He wasn’t ogling me light-heartedly like he normally did. Today there was more heat behind it, and it put me on edge.

  So, here’s a confession. When I first met Trev I was hopelessly infatuated with him. I mean, show me a twenty-two-year-old girl who wouldn’t be. Trev was tall, dark haired, light eyed, athletically muscular and had a great sense of humour. Plus, he was never short on charm or compliments. All this meant I developed a gigantic crush. Little did I know, all he was after was friendship.

  It should’ve been more obvious to me, but at the time I had my head in the clouds. Trev didn’t go for women who looked like me. He liked them petite and blonde, while I was anything but. Anyway, it took me a few months to come to the heart-breaking realisation that he wasn’t interested in me romantically. After that, I made my peace with the situation and moved on. Now I was a twenty-four-year-old woman who knew better than to put her eggs in the Trevor Cross basket.

  But today…today he was looking at me in a way he never had before and it was making me feel strange. Too hot, and itchy – real itchy.

  He was uncharacteristically silent as he went back to sucking on his lolly.

  I eyed him. “What’s up with you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Come on. You’re being weird. Well, weirder than usual.”

  He shoved one hand in his jeans pocket. “I guess I’m just a little bit restless. I feel like doing something crazy, something exciting. It’s Frida
y and I don’t have a shift at Lee’s until the day after tomorrow. How about we go out and have some fun? Throw caution to the wind.”

  I smiled fondly at his enthusiastic hand gesture. “Like how?”

  “Like…” he paused, pondering it a moment before he continued, “Okay, how about this. We both make a pact to stay out for the entire night, and we can’t go home until we’ve done at least three things we’ve never done before.”

  I gave him a suspicious look. “I don’t know. I think your idea of exciting is a lot more extreme than mine.”

  He came around to stand in front of me and I stopped in place. “What if I promise not to make you do anything you don’t want to? Come on, Reyrey, have an adventure with me. You know you won’t regret it.”

  I wasn’t too sure about that. Still, after only a few moments of hesitation I gave in, unable to resist that boyish grin of his, especially when he called me Reyrey. I hated it, but also secretly kind of loved it. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  “Yes! Okay, now all you have to do is suck on the lollipop to make it official,” he held it out to me in challenge, then winked. “It’s strawberry. Your favourite.”

  I knew he thought I wouldn’t do it, which kind of made me want to prove him wrong. Instead of pushing the proffered lolly out of the way, I plucked it from his fingers, stuck it in my mouth and took a long suck.

  When I popped it from my lips I shot him a cheeky grin. “Mmm, delicious.”

  Trev’s mouth fell open and I delighted in the fact that I’d surprised him. I arched a brow in challenge, waiting for him to comment, but all he did was stare at my mouth like he never noticed how fascinating it was before. Shivers ran up my arms and I started to regret my gutsy move.

  He took a step closer, his eyelids hooded, and asked quietly, “I know I’m probably gonna get a slap for this, but would you consider sucking my cock like you just sucked that lolly as one of the things you’ve never done before?”

  Now it was my turn to be surprised. And turn bright red. And get goosebumps over every inch of my body. I mean, he’d said stuff like this to me in the past, but it had always been in jest. Today I wasn’t so sure. It felt like if I said yes, he’d actually go ahead with it. And it was difficult to breathe normally when the image of giving my best friend a blowjob was etched in my mind. Swallowing hard, I shook my head and plastered on a breezy expression, “Nice try, but I think I’ll pass.”

  Trev threw his arm around my shoulders then bent to whisper in my ear, “Spoilsport.”

  I tried to ignore how his breath hit my skin, and how his voice gave me tingles.

  When we arrived at my building, I stepped ahead of him to swipe my fob over the door entry system. Living in a three-hundred square foot studio apartment could be stifling and demoralising at times, but it was the only thing that was within my budget. When I was in college I lived in a house share, and believe it or not, this was actually a step up.

  I wanted to sing for a living, and I knew I’d be miserable doing anything else, so for that reason I had to make sacrifices.

  At first I’d been too embarrassed to bring Trev here, because the building was old and a little musty, and when you lived in such a small place all of your possessions were sort of on show. It was like bringing people right inside your bedroom. Awkward. Too close.

  Keeping Trev away was a losing battle though, and eventually he wore me down. He actually liked the place, thought it was cosy. But that was probably because he’d grown up in a tiny council house with his three brothers all sleeping in one room. Hell, he probably considered my place spacious in comparison.

  Anyway, I tried to keep the place nice and take pride in it, even though it wasn’t much. At least I could hold my head high and be proud of my little home.

  As soon as we got in Trev flopped down onto my bed. He pulled his phone from his pocket, probably to check Facebook or something, while I went to put my things away and freshen up in the bathroom. When I returned he was still on his phone. I took a moment to soak him in, because the visual of him lying so casually on my bed was always…interesting.

  Sure, I’d made my peace with the fact that he didn’t fancy me, but I couldn’t help finding him attractive. He just was. He was pretty, too, for a bloke. His lips were full and red, his lashes long and dark, and his skin pale and flawless. Being of Spanish descent, I was his opposite: dark eyed and tan. Perhaps that was why I’d always been so taken with his looks.

  I dropped down beside him and asked, “What are you looking at?”

  He turned the screen so I could see and I scrunched up my face. “An underground rave? Not sure that’s my thing.”

  “But it’s held in an old abandoned tube station. Neither one of us has been to a rave in a tube station before. We should do it.”

  I shrugged and gave it some thought. I wasn’t a big fan of rave music, but I did like to dance. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. “Okay, then. We’ll go, but you have to stick with me. I hate being left alone at those things.”

  Trev shot me a serious look. “Of course I’ll stick with you. I wouldn’t leave you on your own. It’s not safe.”

  His sincerity made me feel a little less wary and I gave him a grateful smile. This close I could smell him, and involuntarily I leaned in to sniff his neck.

  “Did you just smell me?” he asked with amusement.

  I blinked, realising how odd that was. “Um, yeah, sorry. Is that new cologne?”

  “Acqua di Gio. You like it?”

  “I really do.”

  He grinned. “Good.” Leaning in, he brought his nose to my neck and inhaled deeply. The action caused my stomach to clench and my chest to flutter. I thought I even felt his lips touch my skin for a second.

  “You don’t smell so bad yourself.”

  “Thanks.”

  He winked. “I’m all about returning the favour. Do you need to do anything else before we leave?”

  I shook my head and he pulled me up from the bed. Before I knew it we were on the tube, heading for destinations unknown.

  “It’s too early for the rave, so I thought we’d go get something to eat first.”

  “Good idea. I’m starving.”

  Trev grinned devilishly and I knew it meant all was not as it seemed, but I decided not to question him. For some reason I felt like truly embracing his idea of throwing caution to the wind. I did need material for some new songs, after all. Maybe this night of new experiences would be the perfect inspiration.

  Yes, God help me, for the next couple of hours I was going to let Trevor Cross be my guide. I almost regretted the decision when twenty minutes later he led me inside a restaurant where apparently people paid to eat in the dark.

  “Why would anyone want to do this? I like to be able to see my food, not have it fall all over my lap because I’ve been rendered blind.”

  “It’s more sensual in the dark,” said Trev, making his voice intentionally husky. “When you can’t see you have to focus on everything else; sound, smell, taste.”

  I stiffened in awareness at the way he spoke. Why was he acting so weird today? “Didn’t peg you for a sensualist.”

  “Hey, now that’s just insulting. Of course I am. How else do you think I got so good in bed?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t know anything about that. You could be terrible,” I said, unable to resist goading him as we waited in reception for a table to free up. Looking around, I noticed it was mostly couples here, which made me feel a little self-conscious.

  Trev pulled his phone from his pocket and began flicking through his contacts. “Oh, no way am I letting you away with that one. Let’s call up one of my exes and have her substantiate my claims to greatness, shall we? How about Lila?”

  I swiped his phone from him. “No way. You know I was never fond of Lila. She freaked me out.”

  Trev waggled his brows and grabbed the phone back. “Why? Were you jealous?”

  “No, I wasn’t jealous. It had nothing to do with her being your girlfr
iend. She was just…weird. She always used to look at me like, I don’t know, like she fancied me or something. Plus, she never wore a bra. I don’t trust women who don’t wear bras. It’s not natural.”

  “Au contraire,” Trev disagreed. “I think you’ll find it’s perfectly natural. In fact, you should try it sometime.”

  I shot him a cynical look and he chuckled, relenting, “Okay, maybe not in public. With a rack like yours that might be a little obscene.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Wow, thanks.”

  “It’s a compliment, Reya.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

  “Anyway, Lila looked at you like she fancied you because did fancy you. Didn’t I ever mention she swung both ways?”

  I tensed as my mouth fell open. “Um, no, you didn’t.” The idea of Trev’s ex-girlfriend fancying me made me blush. I’d had no idea.

  “She was forever trying to convince me to lure you into a threesome. I told her that although that would make for quite the memorable evening, it went against the code.”

  “The code?”

  “The buddies code. Buddies don’t show each other their special places. Unless of course you’re one of those freaks who likes walking around communal changing rooms bollock naked.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Right. No special place exposure around friends. Makes sense.”

  Trev’s eyes twinkled as he stared at me, clearly enjoying the topic of conversation. He loved talking about stuff that made most people squirm. Like anal sex, or getting caught watching porn by a family member, or whether or not you considered it healthy to masturbate on a regular basis.

  A smartly dressed woman approached us, the maître d’, and ushered us into the darkened restaurant. I latched onto Trev’s arm, momentarily blinded. He took me by surprise when instead he took my hand in his and laced our fingers together. Warmth suffused my cheeks at the action.