"I thought you said you'd never played before…" Shane said suspiciously, pulling off his mask.
"Did I say that?" she asked innocently. "I must have misspoke."
"Oh, yeah, that must be it," he laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and tickling her.
He had taken her to play paintball that afternoon. He decided that he had minimal risk of being recognized while he was wearing a mask, and there weren't usually many girls there, anyways. Audrey had acted clueless about how to use the paintball gun, saying she had never played before, but she destroyed him during the game.
"Oh, no!" she sighed as raindrops began to fall. "What about our picnic?"
He took her hand and led her towards his car. "I have an idea."
Shane opened the trunk of his SUV and folded the backseats down, giving them much more room. He spread out the blanket and helped her in.
"A picnic in the car?" she smiled. "You're clever."
"I like to think so," he replied, handing her a peanut butter sandwich.
"You play the guitar?" she asked, noticing his guitar case in the trunk with them.
"Yeah," he nodded, unwrapping the plastic wrap from his sandwich.
"Do you sing, too?"
The conversation was making him a little nervous. "Um…a little, yeah."
She took a bite of her sandwich, looking between him and his guitar for a moment. "Will you play something for me?"
"Right now?" he asked nervously. He didn't want her to realize that he sounded a lot like the lead singer of Connect Three.
"Please?"
He sighed heavily. "Okay. What do you want me to play?"
"Anything," she shrugged as he unlatched his guitar case and pulled out his acoustic guitar, resting it on his knee.
Shane thought for a moment. She probably only knew their songs that had been on the radio, and he doubted she paid that much attention, so hopefully she wouldn't recognize his voice. If he played something they hadn't released, he would probably be fine.
"Hello beautiful
How's it going?
I hear it's wonderful in California
I've been missing you, it's true…
But tonight, I'm gonna fly
Yeah tonight, I'm gonna fly
'Cause I could come across the world
And see everything, and never be satisfied
If I couldn't see those eyes
Hello beautiful
It's been a long time
Since my phone's rung
And you've been on that line
I've been missing you, it's true
But tonight, I'm gonna fly
Yeah tonight, I'm gonna fly, oh yeah
'Cause I could come across the world
See everything, and never be satisfied
If I couldn't see those eyes…"
She stared at him, a sweet smile on her face. "Did you write that?"
He nodded, setting his guitar back in its case.
"Wow," she said. "You could do that, like, for real. Professionally."
Well, actually…he thought. He didn't want to lie anymore; he knew every time he did it would be worse when she found out. But he loved that she didn't know, and he wanted to enjoy that for a couple more days. "Stop, you're making me blush."
"I'm serious!" she laughed, hitting him playfully. "Have you ever thought about it?"
"Um…it's really just a hobby," he lied. He took a big bite of his sandwich, hoping that she would end the conversation since he couldn't respond with a mouthful of food.
"Well, if you ever do think about it, don't let any other girls claim to be your biggest fan," she smiled, curling up under his arm. "Will you play something else?"
"If I play too much for you now, I won't have anything to woo you with when you realize you're too pretty to be hanging out with me," he joked, hoping she accepted that meant 'no.'
Audrey laughed and kissed him sweetly. He pulled her body close to his, a million thoughts in his head. What would happen when she did find out? By now, it would probably be a matter of days; the concert was in four days, and if he even made it that far without being exposed, there was a good chance that she would go to the show. He would have to tell her before then. And, even if she didn't get angry when she found out, what then? She was going home on Sunday, and he was going on tour. If he was at home, he could visit her; he didn't live far from New York City, and since it was the summer she wouldn't be busy taking classes and studying. But he couldn't exactly take time off the tour to go see her. He was getting ahead of himself, though; if he found out that a girl had lied to him as much as he was lying to her, he wouldn't want to see them anymore. What made him think she wouldn't feel the same way as he would?
He tried to push the thoughts out of his mind. Right now, he had her in his arms, and he would savor that for as long as he could.