Catch My Breath Read Online Free Page A

what to say, what to feel. Nothing was certain, he was sure nothing was ever really certain in the music business, but man. To go from nothing at all to even the slightest chance overnight was crazy. Especially for someone like him who never, ever expected it. He drove home, window down, hot breeze from the freeway ripping through his hair. He felt like he could fly. As if just the thought of what had happened earlier would be enough to lift him up until he was soaring and crashing through the clouds. He thought about telling Sara, telling his family. He didn’t want to.
    No. This is mine. At least for a little while.
    Maybe it would turn into nothing, and he’d just go to college and life would carry on. Maybe. But for the moment it was his secret to savor. His time to do everything he wanted. Hopefully it would last.

Chapter 3

     
    “O KAY , guys. You think we’re ready to try some Boyz II Men?” Webb wiggled his eyebrows at the others in challenge. Elliot giggled. He really, really liked Webb. For someone who seemed so quiet and aloof at first, he was goofy. And nice.
    “I’m not sure Danny here can take it,” Reece muttered. He kicked Danny, who leaned away quickly and clutched at Elliot’s waist for balance. Elliot covered his breathless sigh with a giggle. Lord knew he should’ve been used to the touching by then. They’d already been punching, kicking, all the typical stuff since the very first day of rehearsal. He wasn’t used to it, at least not from Danny. Elliot didn’t think he’d ever get used to Danny’s touches.
    “Screw you,” Danny said with a grin. “Let’s do it. ‘Water Runs Dry’. Anyone have that track on their iPod?”
    “I do.” Elliot scrolled through his playlist until he found it. They unplugged Tate’s iPod from the stereo and hooked his up to listen to the harmonies and pick out their parts.
     
     
    T HEY ’ D been singing for hours and hours for the two days before, cooped up in a back room at the Blue Horizon studios working with Keller, their new vocal coach, learning to harmonize and play off each other. At first they were awful, at least according to Keller, but things were starting to come together. Elliot leaned back and looked at the three lanky bodies sprawled in chairs across the table from him. It was crazy to think that a few short days ago he’d never met them. He… he just couldn’t imagine his life anymore without them in it. Reece’s blunt humor, masked by slow Southern charm, Webb’s quiet jokes, Tate’s sweet, sensible way—all three of them had become such a part of his life already. And then there was Danny. Danny. Elliot felt him, sitting in the crappy folding chair, slouched casually with one foot propped on the table. He didn’t look over. He didn’t have to. He knew where Danny was. He always knew where Danny was. Usually right next to him. They seemed to drift toward each other.
    He and Danny had gotten along from word one. All five of them had, but it was different for Elliot and Danny. Elliot wasn’t sure how he could tell. He just could. Danny made him comfortable but pleasantly uncomfortable, blushy and shivery, giddy but calm. He was attracted to Danny. Massively so. That part was easy to figure out. It wasn’t going to ever amount to anything. Especially if their little group ended up becoming something real. But he couldn’t help feeling it. The rest of it, their easy connection, he didn’t understand. But it felt so good Elliot just went with it. There was no point in doing anything else.
    “You guys think you’re ready to try this?” Keller asked. He propped a baseball cap on the top of his head.
    “Hell yeah.” Reece didn’t miss a beat. The others were quick to agree.
    Keller picked out a note on the piano in the corner. “Okay, Tate, you’re going to lead out on this one. Webb, I want you to sing the second verse. We’ll get into the harmonies after we run through just singing melody. Cool?”
     
     
    I T WAS