Page 76 of Burn Bright (Cobalt Empire #1)

“Dude,” her eyes bug at my cock.

I burst into a laugh. “I will fit, Fisher. Basic anatomy. I assume you aced Health Class, smarty-pants.”

“Aced it, yeah. Never taken a dick that big though.”

“I’ll go slow.” I nod toward the drum kit. “You want to play?”

She walks back over to the instrument and grabs the sticks off the floor. “I thought you were about to ask if I wanted to be fucked on the drums.”

I laugh again. “Yeah, I have to draw the line somewhere”—I peer back to the closed door, thankful for the soundproofing in here—“being caught having sex isn’t going to appeal to the nerds. Unlike my kind, who love the notches on the bedposts.”

She twirls her drumsticks way fancier than I ever did. “Such a jock.” She points a stick at me. “I do need to mention something.”

“Okay?” I can’t see where this is going.

“Earlier, I ate a pot cookie.”

“By choice?” I ask.

“I mean, yeah, no one forced me—and I’m not high.” She speaks fast. “I don’t think it was strong. I haven’t really felt effects, except maybe paranoia.”

My smile stretches. “Yeah, I could see that.”

“That’s the last time I ever eat an edible.”

“I’ve never had one,” I admit. “I’ve never done drugs or wanted to…

” I trail off, hearing the creak of the door, and I spin around as a member of the Honors House peeks inside.

It’s Kiki Kershaw. Her animable smile is on Harriet.

She acknowledges me with a shorter wave, and it’s about the same curtness I’ve been gifted by several girls who live here.

They hate Kappa.

For good reason. And the only reason I was allowed inside this building is because I made friends with Guy Abernathy before I joined the frat. The president of the Honors House trusts me at least.

“Hey, a bunch of us are going to play volleyball in the pool,” Kiki says. “Nine times out of ten it turns into a game of chicken. But it can be pretty fun if you want to join. Just don’t get on Elijah’s shoulders, he will do anything to win—including throwing you at the opponent.”

I don’t like imagining her on another guy’s shoulders.

Harriet tenses a little bit. “Uh, that’s all right. You go ahead.”

“You sure?” Kiki asks. “The water is heated.”

“Yeah, I was wondering if it’s okay if I can play?”

“The drums?”

“Yeah, I mean, is that cool? I know how to play, so I won’t beat them up or?—”

“It’s totally fine,” she interjects with a growing smile. “That’s really awesome that you play. I didn’t see that on your application.”

She raises her shoulders in a stiff shrug. “I never played for a band, not even at school.”

“It’s a hobby,” she nods robustly. “Hobbies aren’t something to leave off the resume. I’ll tell Guy. He’ll find it cool too. No one’s very good at the drums here.” She sneaks a kinder smile at Harriet, then eyes me suspiciously before she exits.

“Left off the drumming talent, did you?” I tsk. “Fisher.” I shake my head in mock disapproval.

“Cobalt fam would never,” she teases.

“No, we would not. You have to pack that thing, even with the one-legged sack race you barely won in third grade.”

“Shucks, I forgot that one too.”

I smile at her. “I thought I was teaching you our ways?”

“Slowly but surely, Cobalt boy.” Her lips twitch upward, then go flat. “I can’t swim.”

I’m rigid. “You never learned?”

She nods. “My parents fought over which classes to put me in, then the divorce happened, and they totally forgot about it, so the story goes.”

She can’t swim.

I’m rushed all the way back to the frat party.

Fuck. I scrape my hand through my hair and suck a breath through my nose.

“Harriet…” She was almost thrown into the pool.

“I thought you were terrified of being tossed in the water at the KPD party because you were wearing a white shirt.” That, coupled with the attention it’d bring—it didn’t register that it was anything deeper.

“Flashing a mob of people would’ve freaked me out, and I didn’t like being that dickhead’s entertainment. But I was mostly stuck on the life-or-death situation.”

My jaw tics.

“Don’t burst a blood vessel. I’m alive. You saved me,” she says flatly.

“You could’ve drowned .” I smear a hand down my face and exhale the heat. “If it makes you feel any better, I can’t drive. Ever since the car crash where I was behind the wheel…I just can’t put my foot on the pedal without violently shaking.”

She eases more. “So I’m not the only scaredy cat?”

“Definitely not.” I can’t stop looking at her. “Maybe one day…” I trail off. Maybe one day I’ll teach you how to swim. You can help me drive again. One day isn’t going to come. I can’t see a way there. I don’t even want to ruin this moment with her and reignite the painful search.

Harriet twirls her sticks, then nods to me. “Put a song on for me, and I’ll play it on drums.”

“Which one?” I take out my phone.

“‘She’ by Green Day. I’ll count you down.”

I grin. “All right.” I find the song in my music library. “I’m ready when you are, rock star.”

She sticks her tongue between a finger-V, and I laugh harder. Her scowl makes way for a scrunched smile, and I already know I’m her biggest fan. She doesn’t even need to move.

“Three, two, one,” she nods, and I press play.

The song is an angsty rock anthem, so perfectly her.

As soon as the melody strikes, she takes off.

Moving her drumsticks at an expert, rhythmic pace I’ve never seen.

Instantly, I’m entranced. With her. With how her body thrashes to the music, lost in the powerful beat.

Eyes closed as she taps the drums in quick, rapid succession.

Her head bangs, blonde hair going wild. Strands stick to her forehead, and her face pinches in emotion like the song flows through her bones.

Her passion sends me to an exultant state.

Her pure, unadulterated love swells emotion in my throat.

I’m stunned by all of her, and I watch and tears try to gather.

I feel the burn against my eyes. Unable to look away.

Still never wanting to—because there is a truth living in the essence of my soul.

I am so deeply in love with her.

She’s become the quiet rustle of leaves.

She’s become the soft soil beneath my feet.

She’s the cold air that awakens my lungs.

The gorgeous light bending through the trees.

She is the planet I’ve adored and tried to care for, and when I look ahead and see her, I see my entire world. In all its peaceful beauty.