Out-and-regretting-it comprehensive attendee Jayden Phillips turns his cast-iron plans for life upside-down by falling in love with private-school violinist Darren Peace, a sardonic boy with the craziest hair Jayden's ever seen.<br><br>But all is not what it seems, and Jayden's bullying problem becomes meaningless when he is confronted with what the music does to Darren. How do you stop a dangerous depression rooted in the same thing that makes someone what they are? Dark moods, blank apathy, and the undertow of self-loathing all simmer beneath Darren's dry and beautiful veneer, and Jayden feels powerless to stop them.<br><br>Then a mugging gone wrong takes the music forcibly away, and Jayden is finally given the chance to change Darren's life -- and, quite literally, his mind.

Vivaldi in the Dark

“That,” Jayden allowed. “I kind of…”


Jayden frowned. “What?” he asked, playing with one of Darren’s curls. It was becoming a nervous tic, Darren had noticed, but he didn’t mind so much.


“You want to pitch. As in, be on top, take charge, whatever you want to call it.”


Jayden reddened; Darren squeezed his knees lightly and waited. “Um. Yeah.”


Jayden looked genuinely surprised for a moment, and Darren had to laugh.


“I don’t mind,” he clarified. “Can’t say I ever gave much thought to who’d be doing what here. Too busy thinking about the act itself,” he added lowly, standing to try and steal another kiss. Jayden unceremoniously shoved him back down, hard enough that he bounced once on the mattress.


“I just…you know, I don’t want to freak out again, so maybe if I…”


Chapter 71