Love Me Sweet (Love Me book 1)

Chapter 17

Lia, Chloe, and Faye had spent the better part of the morning in the attic. They had gone through trunks of old clothes and keepsakes, and it had taken them forever to do it because they had to enjoy every new thing they found. By the time her friends left that evening, it was after dusk. She had given them pizza and beer and sent them home filthy and tired, and they both demanded to come on their next days off to finish the job. Lia didn't turn the offer down, it was hard work, and it was much more fun with friends to help.

They hadn't talked about anything much, especially not about men. It was as if it was a subject they all wanted to avoid for the moment. Lia didn't tell them about Connor Butler. She didn't know what to say about it.

With Huck by her side, Lia went around the house making sure that everything was locked up, and it was as she started to clean up the leftover pizza and throw the beer bottles away that she heard the music. It was a music box; she paused what she was doing and listened. Huck wasn't upset, and the music was coming from above her, so it must be something that they moved from the attic. Perhaps it was in one of the boxes they had placed in the hallway at the base of the attic stairs.

The music cut off, and Lia went about straightening the kitchen and then turned off the light, calling softly to Huck who followed her up the stairs. When she reached the top, nothing seemed amiss, and the door to the attic stairs was still closed. Lia juggled a few boxes, and nothing happened, shrugging because she was too tired to try to figure it out, she walked into Ben's room to get her clothes. She looked at the unmade bed, thinking that she should have changed the sheets that morning and now she didn't want to.

Riffling through her backpack, she pulled out fresh underwear and a sleep shirt, thinking that the house was outrageously hot, and she was debating if it would be safe to open a window, wondering how Ben stood the heat. Huck didn't seem to mind it either as he jumped up on the bed and made himself comfortable with a groan. Lia looked over at him and smiled, and as she turned to go to the bathroom she heard the music again, but this time it sounded like it was coming from directly behind her.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw a small wooden music box on the mantel. She couldn't recall having seen it there before, and as she walked towards it, she noticed that it was open and there was a small mirror in the lid. It was lined in blue velvet and empty. Lia closed the lid gently and traced the ornate scrollwork on the exterior of the box. She opened it again and listened to the song. It was an old Elvis Presley song, 'Love Me Tender.' Lia smiled and closed the lid but continued to hum the song as she reached into her back pocket for her phone. She wondered if either Faye or Chloe had set it aside to take, she had told them to keep anything they wanted since Ben didn't seem interested in anything. She sent them a text, and she got to immediate nos.

Perhaps it was Ben's.

She started the water, keeping the temperature cool, and took a quick shower using Ben's shampoo and soap. By the time she was finished, she was too tired to do much more than brush her teeth. When she walked back into the bedroom the lid to the music box was open, and the song was playing. She swore she had closed it. She walked over to it once more and closed the lid, noting that she did so, then climbed into Ben's bed and turned off the light.

It was stifling after a few minutes, and she knew she was going to have to open a window. What was odd was she didn't remember the house being this hot earlier, it had seemed perfectly cool all day. She opened the window slightly and breathed in the fresh air as it filled the room. She climbed back under the sheets and buried her head in a pillow that smelled like Ben.

She had to be honest with herself, she wouldn't let herself sleep in his bed when he was there, but she wanted to when he wasn't there. Why else would she sleep in a hot house when she could just hop across the street to her house? She wanted to sleep where he slept, in a bed that smelled like him. She groaned into her pillow. How pathetic was she, she was like some hormonal teenager who wanted to have something belonging to her crush near. She was officially losing her mind and as if to prove the point the music box started to play again. She sat straight up in bed and looked over at it. The sound of 'Love Me Tender' filled the house and seemed abnormally loud in the darkened silence.