The Forever of Ella and Micha

asphalt.
    “You said that about Star Grove too.” I kick open the door and step outside. “And you survived that place.”
    She rolls her eyes as she climbs out of the car. “Star Grove doesn’t look nearly as bad as this place.”
    We head across the parking lot, walking close to each other when a group of guys smoking behind a truck make catcalls.
    “I still can’t believe Blake let me borrow his car.” I jump over a pothole. “If I owned a Mustang, I sure as hell wouldn’t lend it out to someone I barely knew, especially after I told him I like to race.”
    “I told you it’s because he likes you.” She elbows me as we turn down the alley that leads to the front entrance of the club. “I have an eye for these things.”
    “He has a girlfriend, Lila. And it seemed like they really love each other.” I sidestep a Dumpster and emerge onto the busy sidewalk. Cars drive up and down the road and bright graffiti decorates the metal exterior of the neighboring buildings.
    Pausing in front of the entrance, I pull my hair out of the ponytail and it falls to my shoulders. Letting go of Lila’s arm, I quickly tie the lace of my boot, then unfasten two of the top buttons on my plaid shirt and smooth out the wrinkles on my denim skirt.
    “Wow, I’ve never seen you this fussy before,” Lila comments as she refastens the ribbon lacing up the front of her maroon shirt. “It’s very entertaining.”
    “I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel really nervous,” I admit, tousling my hair with my fingers.
    “It’s because you
love
him.” Lila bats her eyelashes and I shove her gently. “Relax. It’s because you haven’t seen him for, like, a month. Honestly, I’m a little afraid to be in the same room as you two. You’ll probably have your clothes off and on the floor in a matter of seconds.”
    Rolling my eyes, I enter the club where a bouncer with snake tattoos on his muscular arms and a scar on his lip blocks the path to the table area.
    “IDs please.” His tone suggests we don’t have them.
    Lila and I take our fake IDs out of our pockets and hand them to him. He evaluates them carefully and gives them back to us, stepping aside to let us through.
    We walk into an open room filled with tables and chairs. The air is musty, the bar is crammed with people, and the music is loud, but the sound of the singer’s voice is more familiar than the beat of my heart.
    “Aw, look at him up there all hot and sexy,” Lila says, but I barely hear her.
    All of my concentration focuses on the stage near the far back wall. Beneath the low lighting, Micha sings one of his own songs, playing the guitar with his head tipped down and his hair hanging in his sparkling aqua eyes. My hands ache to touch him, tangle through his hair, feel the softness of his lips.
    The band plays in the background and it takes my breath away as his lyrics flow over my body.
    The silence in your eyes is more than I can take.
    Look at me for once and see how my heart aches.
    You keep me alive. You keep me breathing.
    All I want, all I need is you.
    The room blends away and it’s just him and me. I hear Lila move away from me, probably heading to the bar to order a drink. It takes Micha only seconds to find me in the middle of the crowded room, like our hearts sense each other. He tries to maintain a straight face as he spills out the lyrics, but a trace of a smile reveals at his lips.
    He finishes out the last set with a final chord, and then quickly turns to Naomi, who’s wearing a tight black dress and knee-high boots. Micha says something to her as he hands her the guitar. She nods, tucking her black hair behind her ear, and he hops off stage, and his long legs stride for me as he shoves through the crowd. He doesn’t slow down until he scoops me up in his arms, not caring that there are a ton of people watching us.
    I fasten my legs around his waist and he kisses me intensely, stealing every ounce of oxygen from my lungs. Our bodies and tongues conform together, and the heat of him sears my skin. His lip ring scores into my bottom lip, but I want more. Begging him closer, I breathe him in, tasting him, wanting to feel him as much as possible before we part again.
    When he leans back, a fire flares deep inside his aqua eyes and my stomach somersaults with excitement.
    “God, I’ve missed you, pretty girl.” He kisses me again and his hands wander all over my body. Reluctantly, he pulls away, breathless. “Don’t take this the