Page 171 of Love Unwritten
Nico sets her guitar on his thigh and plays Ellie’s original chords. “This is how it sounds right now.” My son replays the same chords from the opening verse without messing up.
“Right.” She nods.
“But what if you did this?” He changes the sound slightly, altering the speed at which the chords are plucked, which seems to add a bit more buildup before the first bridge.
I don’t know much about music, but whatever Nico did makes Ellie’s face brighten.
“Do that again.”
Nico repeats the same sound, and Ellie beams. “You’re a genius.”
“I am?”
“Yes! I need my notebook and my phone.” Ellie scrambles off the couch, kisses the top of Nico’s head, and takes off running toward her bedroom.
“So much for not being able to move!” Nico shouts at her back with a big grin on his face.
“If you keep up the sass, then I’ll never tell Cole Griffin you helped write his song!” she shouts from the hallway.
Nico’s mouth falls open as he looks over at me. “Wait. The Cole Ellie was talking about before is Cole Griffin?”
“Yup.”
Nico nearly drops the guitar. “Dios mío. And you didn’t say anything?”
“I had no idea you knew who that was.”
“Everyone does! He’s Cole Griffin!”
Knowing my nine-year-old kid listens to songs with lyrics centered around depression, anxiety, and broken hearts doesn’t exactly make me a happy parent, but Nico has always been interested in music, so I can’t expect him not to be curious about our generation’s greats.
“His songs aren’t for kids your age.”
“Neither are Ellie’s, but you let me listen to hers.”
“She’s different.”
“Because you like her?”
“Nicolas.” My cheeks flush.
He has the mischievous glint in his eyes that always gets me into trouble. “Oh. You’re getting embarrassed.”
I drop my head into my hands and groan. “Stop talking. Right now. Please.”
“Only if you admit that you like Ellie as more than a friend.”
“Fine. I like her.”
“Okay, but do you like her, or do you like like her?”
For fuck’s sake. “¡Por el amor de Dios, si! I like like her. Are you happy now?”
Dios mío: My God.
Por el amor de Dios, si.: For the love of God, yes.
I don’t need to look up to know that Ellie returned with her notebook. The way my neck prickles with awareness is enough of a tell, but I still check anyway to confirm that she heard my comment.