The Sound of Us

Chapter Thirty-Four. “I Melt with You” by Modern English

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“I Melt with You” by Modern English

Dante

James Dunn from the university’s legal department didn’t look much older than me, despite the sweater vest he wore over his rumpled blue shirt, and the thick black glasses he put on to read the list of famous WJPK alumni posted beside the station’s front door.

“Thanks for meeting with me,” he said, shaking my hand. “I know this must be a difficult time for you and everyone at the station with Noah ill and—”

“I didn’t have a choice.” After the guilt trip Siobhan had laid on me before Christmas, and with Noah home and feeling well enough to guilt me into helping Siobhan run the station, I had reluctantly agreed to meet with James after he’d sent a message about an urgent legal matter.

“Should we go to your office?” He gestured awkwardly down the hallway.

I took a step forward and my body seized. It had taken all my willpower to walk through the door, but I couldn’t go any farther. There was no way I could sit in Noah’s office if he wasn’t there. I’d lost too many people I cared about. I couldn’t handle the stark reminder that I might just lose another.

“Let’s grab a coffee upstairs.” I led James up to the food court and we ordered our drinks.

“I actually just came for quick chat,” James said after we’d found a quiet table in the corner. “The university wanted me to pass on the message that they don’t want you to run the story.”

“What story? We have an extensive programming schedule. You’ll need to be more specific.” I silently cursed Siobhan for not giving me a heads-up about what was going on.

“The story about the men’s basketball team.”

“I don’t know anything about it. If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’ll touch base with Siobhan.” I stepped away and sent a quick message. Siobhan replied right away saying that Chad had mentioned that Skye was investigating a possible cover-up involving someone on the team.

It didn’t take me long to put the pieces together. Skye was clearly on to something, and the legal team was worried enough to send James to pre-empt a possible broadcast. Damn, she was good.

“I’m up to speed,” I said, taking my seat. “What exactly is your concern?”

James sighed. “Are we really going to play this game?”

“Why don’t you call it what it really is? A fishing expedition.” I sipped my bland coffee, wishing I’d suggested Buttercup instead. It had been too long since I’d seen Skye and she could have shed some light on the story. “You want to know what we know.”

His jaw tightened. “It doesn’t matter what you know. What matters is that WJPK leases space on university property and is an integral part of the university community. That means we all need to be on the same page when it comes to anything that may impact the university’s reputation.”

I leaned back in my chair and imagined myself ten years from now in James’s place. Is that what lay in store for me after I’d put my father away? Sweater vests and rumpled shirts and veiled threats to college radio station volunteers?

“Are you trying to curtail the freedom of the press?” I asked. “It’s in the community’s interest to know when someone is doing something that is illegal, unethical, or questionable when it comes to societal values. That’s why we’re here. That is the beauty of independent radio. We are not beholden to advertisers, which puts us in the unique position of being able to ensure those truths come to light.”

James lifted an admonishing brow. “Are you seriously going to put the station at risk for something that happened over two years ago? Maybe you should talk to Noah.” His voice took on a condescending tone. “I know you’re just a student and you’re filling this role on an interim basis, but this is a very serious matter—”

“Oh, I understand it’s serious.” I leaned forward, giving him my full attention. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure the story had teeth. But now I know it’s worth pursuing.”

“I haven’t said anything,” James said, scrambling. “I just came here to raise a concern.”

“And I heard you.” I held out my hand for a goodbye shake. “I’ll pass the message on to Noah, but you should know that he feels the same way I do about the purpose of independent radio and freedom of press. If he were here, you wouldn’t have even had the courtesy of a handshake.”

I texted Skye as soon as he was gone. I need to see you.

“What are you doing at a rival coffee shop?” Skye’s voice pulled me out of the coursework I’d tried to lose myself in while waiting for her to show up. It seemed like forever since I’d seen her, and I took a moment to drink her in. Her hair was loose, falling in dark waves across her shoulders, and her red sweater clung to her curves. She was beautiful. Seriously beautiful. Inside and out.

“I couldn’t be in the station.”

Her dark eyes softened with understanding and she took the seat across from me. “You said you needed to see me.”

I needed to see her like I needed to breathe. The story was just an excuse. But I didn’t know how we stood, and part of me was still hurt from her betrayal. “What the hell is going on with this basketball story?”

She startled and I realized my words had come out harsher than I’d intended. “I’m sorry.” And once I’d said the words, the rest was easy. “I’m sorry about not telling you about the scholarship. I didn’t mean to make you feel less capable. I didn’t want the money and Noah wouldn’t take it, and I knew you needed it. I also knew you wouldn’t take it as a gift so I set up the scholarship hoping I could help you and other people like you in the future. I’ll admit there may have been some self-interest on my part, but as Noah said, he insisted that the selection had to be fair. Maybe he figured it out, but he would never have compromised the integrity of the station by hiring someone he didn’t think was capable of the job. You are an amazing woman and you’ve been an incredible asset to the station. No one would refute that.”

There was a maelstrom of emotion behind her dark, quiet eyes, and for a heartbeat I thought my apology might not be enough.

“You grovel pretty well.” Her lips quivered with a smile. “I like the ‘amazing woman’ part. Next time you should lead with that.”

I reached over and cupped her cheek, the simple touch melting something inside me. “Will there be a next time?”

“If you accept my apology, too.” She turned her face to kiss my palm. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Noah. He put me in a terrible position when he asked me not to tell you. He was worried you wouldn’t write your LSAT and he didn’t want you to resent him if it meant you couldn’t follow your dream. I did it under protest.”

I moved my chair beside her and kissed her long, slow, and deep, feeling that connection between us snap into place.

“I missed you,” she murmured against my lips.

“I missed you, too. I’d suggest we take this down to our favorite basement storage room, but I didn’t just ask you to see me to apologize. I had a visit from the legal department about your story.”

“No way.” Skye pulled back, her eyes sparkling. “It worked!”

“What worked?”

Skye told me about her meeting with Blake and her plan to bluff the administration into showing their hand. “I figured if there really was something to the story, they would be afraid of it getting out, and come to me.”

“They came to me instead,” I said. “They think we’re planning to break it on the air.”

“I wish we could.” Skye sighed. “I still can’t substantiate anything, and even if I could, I would send it to the Havencrest Express first because it would have the most impact.”

“I’ll pretend that didn’t hurt on behalf of all our news broadcasters.”

Skye laughed. “Did you get any information from the legal guy?”

“Nothing except he said it happened two years ago, and it was serious enough that he was there to make veiled threats. I didn’t give in.”

“Very impressive.” She leaned up to brush her lips over mine. “Maybe you should give up law and become a journalist.”

“That would make Noah happy—the giving up the law part. Although he has supported me every step of the way, he’s never held back his views on my decision not to pursue my music.”

“He just wants you to be happy.”

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. “I’m happy now.”