by Magan Vernon
I rolled my eyes. “If you’d rather play with Clay, I’ll just go watch TV.”
“We can always go to my house. No brothers there, only cows, and I can play you a new song that I learned on my guitar.” Eddie’s eyes always lit up when he talked about music. His parents finally let him take guitar lessons, and he was the happiest I’d ever seen him.
I smiled, standing up. “Okay. I’ll ask my mom.”
The sound of crackling on the window echoed through the room. I thought it might have been a hailstorm and rolled over. But this wasn’t a normal storm, and the little pings on the window only came every few seconds, one at a time.
Begrudgingly, I groaned and rolled out of bed, walking to the window. Once I adjusted my eyes to the moonlight, I saw a smiling Eddie standing in the grass just outside the patio on the first floor.
I unlocked and opened the window. “Eddie, what the hell are you doing?” I hiss-whispered.
“Were you seriously sleeping?” He laughed, his bright white smile practically blinding.
“Yes. Some of us sleep.”
“Well, I was taking the four-wheeler out and thought maybe you’d like a ride for old time’s sake.”
I huffed. Would I love to grab his strong back and take a ride? Yes. Did I also want to roll over and go back to sleep? Yes.
The back patio door opened and Mom appeared, holding her robe closed. “If you two are going to go out, can you at least do it like normal people? Violet has school tomorrow, and I don’t want to wake her up.”
“Sorry, Mrs. C,” Eddie said.
Mom looked back and forth between Eddie and me. “I know you two did this when you were younger, but Violet doesn’t need to know. So you can either climb down the trellis like you used to or get down here.”
I gawked. “You knew?”
Mom smirked. “Please, Brooke, your father and I weren’t stupid. As long as you two weren’t getting in trouble, we were fine with it. Just leave the liquor cabinet alone, okay?”
Swallowing hard to gain some saliva, I literally had no words, so I just nodded and threw on some jeans and a t-shirt before running downstairs.
Mom was already back in bed, and Eddie leaned against the four-wheeler with his arms crossed over his chest. “’Bout time you showed up. Didn’t think you could avoid me if I figured out the back way in.”
I rolled my eyes. “We aren’t fifteen anymore. You don’t need to throw pebbles at my window.”
He climbed on the four-wheeler. “It got your attention, though, didn’t it? Now, hop on.”
Reluctantly, I straddled the back of the seat and wrapped my arms around Eddie’s waist. When we were fifteen, I felt nothing holding onto his scrawny body. In fact, I was basically grabbing his t-shirt. But grown up Eddie was dealing with a serious body. My hands brushed against the thin material of his shirt, and I counted—what the hell, an eight pack?
“Are you trying to grope me from back there, Brooke?” Eddie asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“What? No! Just trying to get a good grip so you don’t toss me off.”
He laughed before pulling out of my backyard, the slight breeze whipping my hair as we drove off my property.
Eddie’s parents had almost one-thousand acres with longhorn cattle, some goats, horses, and other random animals. Our measly two acres ran beside it, and both ended at a small pond that we shared with our only other neighbors: The Dillingers. Well, the missus and her daughter, Abbey. The mister was a big lawyer in Dallas, and when Mrs. Dillinger caught him with his hands down his male intern’s pants, she took him for everything he had in the divorce. She fixed up their old farmhouse, so it looked much better than it had when we were kids and he was living there.
Eddie pulled the four-wheeler over near the willow trees and turned off the engine before pulling a flask out of his pocket and sitting down on one of the low-hanging branches. The scene was all too familiar.
I sucked in a deep breath before taking the seat next to him. Without a word, he passed the flask to me, and the smooth whiskey burned as soon as it hit my throat. I’d become more of a wine girl since I moved to Austin. I could literally finish a bottle in a night. It was pretty easy to do that when I didn’t have a real job or any other commitments. Drake didn’t count as someone to keep me occupied. I think he was happy since the more I drank, the more I was willing to let him stick it in my pooper.
Eddie looked up at the stars. “You know there’s always been something about the Southern sky. In all the places I’ve traveled, nothing has ever compared to the cloudless, star-filled Texas sky.”
“Yeah, it didn’t even look this clear in Austin,” I muttered, handing him back the flask.
“When you headed back there?” he asked, taking a sip before sliding the drink back to me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. When are you going back?”
He shook his head, the ghost of a smile crossing his lips. “No idea. You aren’t going back to that boyfriend?”
“If you could even call him that. It’s a long story, and I guess we’ll both be stuck in Friendship for a while,” I muttered, taking a long gulp from the flask.
“I always thought of it that way—that we were stuck in this small town Texas hell—until I left. There’s something to be said for the simple life surrounded by cows and silence as you sit on your back porch.”
“Yeah, it can also be boring as hell.”
He bumped his shoulder with mine. “I don’t know. You and I had some pretty good times. Remember when we thought we could go cow tipping and the bulls shit on my new boots instead of falling over?”
I laughed slightly. “Yeah. Those were good times, but that was before you left.” The last part came out like word vomit. I never intended to actually say that part.
He sighed. “Yeah. I should have stayed in touch with you. There were so many times I wanted to pick up the phone and call, and I just didn’t.”
“It’s not your fault. I didn’t call either.”
He turned toward me, his eyes glowing in the moonlight. “Yeah, but you weren’t the one who left. You skipped English to drive me to that audition. You sat with me here that night ten years ago when I was nervous as hell about leaving. I even gave you my lucky guitar pick.”
Slowly, I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the white guitar pick. “You mean this one?”
His eyes widened. “You seriously kept that? After all these years?”
I thumbed the pick as I had done so many times before. “You said it was lucky, right? I thought it might bring me something. So far, I’ve just had shit jobs, a boyfriend who’s been more like a roommate, a lackluster writing career, and a death in the family. It may be broken.”
He put his hand out. “Then I guess you can give it back to me. Lord knows I need the luck.”
I smiled, putting the pick back in my pocket. “Nope. You gave it to me, and it’s here to stay.”
“Maybe I should have just given you a ring instead of that. Maybe if I would have listened to my parents and just married you, then I wouldn’t have had to deal with that shit with my ex,” he muttered, taking a long sip from the flask.
“You and I married? Yeah, our parents joked about it, but that’s a pretty crazy idea, even for you.” I laughed but didn’t find any humor in it. Ever since we were little kids, my parents always said I was going to “marry the boy next door.” I didn’t know his parents thought the same thing, though both of us knew that would never happen.
“And like I would have married you. Ew,” I said, shoving his shoulder.
He laughed slightly, shaking his head and taking another drink. “Yeah. It was a stupid thing to say. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Maybe you were thinking that both of our love lives would have turned out better,” I muttered, grabbing the flask from him and downing the rest of it.
He turned toward me, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t even know you were with someone until you said something to
day.”
Shaking my head, I set the flask down on the branch beside us. “I don’t even know what we are. I never really saw it going anywhere. He was kind of someone just to pass the time. Well, pass the last eight years. Kind of like your song, you know the one about the guy who is just with the girl because she’s there but he gave his heart to someone years ago?”
Eddie smiled. “Yeah. I know all about that song. She means nothing to me. She’s just passing the time.” He sang the last part to his famous song that earned him his first Grammy, not that I was following his career or anything.
“That song stem from real-life experiences?” I asked. Wow, drinking whiskey was giving me some balls. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually had hard liquor, and the stuff in the flask was making me braver.
Eddie’s face grew serious as his eyes met mine. “I think you know who it’s about, Brooke.”
“Pfffft.” I shook my head.
Eddie leaned forward, putting one hand on his knee. “Like you haven’t figured out by now that half my songs are about you? Hell, I even had a girl with glasses and brown hair in the music video for ‘When I’m with You.’”
I stared blankly out at the water, the lyrics of the song drifting through my head as I thought about the video. The song was about a guy who had a stressful job but forgot all his cares when he was sitting on the back porch, watching the moonlight with his girl.
Holy. Shit.
Finally, I turned back to Eddie, who was still staring at me with the ghost of a smile on his face. “It’s always been you, Brooke.”
Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the fact that I was staring at who most magazines deemed “Country’s Sexiest Man,” but I took the chance, and I leaned in, putting my hand on his cheek.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I leaned closer to press into him. This was it. I was going to finally give in and kiss the guy I’d had a crush on all of my life. But instead of pressing my lips to his, I heard a loud crackling sound. By the time I heard the sound, it was already too late, and the old branch split apart, knocking Eddie onto his back with me tumbling down on top of him.
I rolled over, laughing and shaking my head. Eddie did the same, his arm still wrapped around my waist. My skin searing from his mere touch. But maybe the tree branch breaking was a sign. It never even budged all those years when we were just friends, and as soon as I tried for something more, it was over before it even began.
“I guess we’re a little too big to be sitting on branches,” Eddie said.
“Yeah,” I said, looking at the sky instead of meeting his gaze.
“So what happens after you and your best friend break a tree?” Eddie asked, breaking up the silence.
I shrugged.
“Well, I think we have two choices. I can either take you home … or …” His free hand grabbed mine and interlaced our fingers. “We stay here and catch up on the last ten years until the sun rises.”
I looked over, meeting his gaze. “I think the second choice is the better option.”
He grinned. “Me too.”
Chapter 4
I was dealing with an epic sleep hangover, but it was definitely worth it.
Staying up with Eddie to talk about everything from music to our failed relationships and then watch the sunrise was one of the biggest highlights of my entire life. Which made me think I really needed to get a life.
The house was empty when I finally rolled out of bed around noon. I figured Mom and Vi were at school, and Clay, even though he complained about it, was back at work.
Now that I was alone, I had no idea what to do with myself. I could have gone to the bakery to write, but part of me hoped that maybe Eddie would show up again.
Or maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he thought talking to me was just a drunken mistake, even though we only had a flask, and he wouldn’t talk to me again for another ten years. Maybe saying all of the songs were about me was just a rouse to get in my pants, and once he figured out I had a pseudo-boyfriend, he stopped. I should have just kissed him. Sent a “Dear John” text to Drake right there and then gave in to all the feelings I had for Eddie.
Maybe then, I would stop pining over the one who got away and really start living my life. Maybe he would be a horrible lay, and I would laugh it off. But somehow, I didn’t think that would be the case.
When I turned off FM6 to go to Main Street, every parking spot was full, and people were lining the sidewalks. More people than I’d ever seen in our little town—even for the annual Boo Fest before Halloween, but that had already happened.
I ended up having to park two streets over near the water department, and when I finally got to the end of Main Street, I heard rumblings that superstar Eddie Justice had been spotted.
My heart thumped hard in my chest with a mix of excitement and nervousness. Where was he? Should I be pissed that he didn’t come see me before heading downtown?
I sighed, giving myself an inner pep talk. We weren’t dating or anything. Hell, that was the first time we’d spoken in ten years, and now, we were breaking tree limbs and almost kissing. He didn’t owe me anything.
I made my way through the crowd until I was at the Forever Sweet Bakery where two police officers were standing in front. I didn’t recognize them as the local guys from Friendship, but guys they brought in from Dallas. There were also hordes of reporters with cameras and other people trying to get a glimpse inside.
“Hey! Is this place closed or can I get my coffee?” I asked, adjusting my glasses.
“It’s open for patrons only. Five-minute limit inside,” the officer said gruffly.
I rolled my eyes and adjusted my bag over my shoulder before I pushed open the glass door. Carla was the only one behind the counter with a line of fifteen girls waiting. But they weren’t looking at the delicious cupcakes or cookies; all their eyes were locked on the crooner at the corner table. MY corner table.
“Brooke! I was wondering when the hell you were going to show up!” Eddie stood up from the table.
While I had barely brushed my hair before putting it up in a ponytail and throwing on an old Baylor shirt and jeans, Eddie looked fresh off the stage. He was clean-shaven and wore a pair of distressed boot-cut jeans and a black V-neck shirt that fit him just right. Damn, where was this put-together guy when we were in high school? Maybe I would have made more of an effort then. But as much as I liked the clean-cut country star, I also had a soft spot for the good old country boy in his naturally worn jeans and plaid shirt.
The heat of everyone’s eyes was on me as Eddie closed the distance between us and stopped when we were toe to toe, putting his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wondering when you’d show up.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been waiting for me?”
He smiled, which made his dimples pop out, and I swore that every girl in line sighed. “Well, yeah, I didn’t know where else my best friend would go … but I think it’s a bit crowded now.”
Best friend? Did he still consider me that? What the hell did everyone else in the bakery think of me?
I just stared at Eddie wide-eyed for a moment before he spoke again. “How about we get coffees to go and head back to the ranch?”
“Uh, sure, that sounds good.”
***
What the hell was I doing? Why were my hands shaking on the steering wheel as I followed Eddie down the dirt road to the TL ranch?
I’d done this a hundred times before, but that was before I almost kissed Eddie. I was a grown woman; I could totally kiss him if I wanted to. And I guess I was technically a single woman. Maybe being alone at his house would give me another chance to work out all of my pent-up feelings—if dozens of news media vans weren’t lining the outer fence of the property and pending on his parents actually working.
I followed Eddie through the iron gate and down the path lined with crepe myrtles until we came to the circular drive in front of the ranch. The old one-story brick house h
adn’t changed a bit with the white wraparound porch and metal barns on either side that always had some kind of animal milling about. I could barely see our house in the distance and make out the edge of the pond. Texas was pretty flat, so if you were up high enough, it wasn’t hard to see for miles.
I got out of the car, and Eddie followed suit. Slowly, I strolled up to his driver’s side where he handed me a cup of coffee. “You working on another book?”
I nodded, following him up the driveway toward the front door. “Yeah, trying to.”
“I downloaded To Britain with Love last night. I can’t say it’s my type of book, but I always wondered what it was like for a girl to have a stepbrother who’s a member of the royal family and then screw him on the throne.” Eddie laughed.
I shoved his shoulder. “Shut up! It’s fiction, okay? Not like all of your song lyrics are perfect, Mr. Tailgate Love.”
“Hey! That was a beautiful song,” he said, opening up the front door of the house.
My boots clicked on the hardwood floor, and I inhaled the familiar scent of his mom’s vanilla candles and straw that never seemed to leave.
“Yeah, because talking about remembering the high school cheerleader and scoring a touchdown in the back of a pickup is romantic. How did you even come up with that?” I asked, setting my bag down on one of the leather sofas.
Even the décor of the place hadn’t changed with all of the deer heads and other animals mounted on the wall around the big screen TV. I thought Lydia, Eddie’s mom, would always put the kibosh on that, but I think she liked that her Lebanese-born husband embraced the Texas ranch lifestyle.
“I didn’t write that one. One of my producers did. And it got me a People’s Choice award, so it can’t be all that bad,” Eddie said.
“So … are we just going to hang out here in your living room like we used to do as kids? Maybe you can put on MTV and hope your mom doesn’t catch us watching Undressed?” I asked, trying to think of what to say. I usually wasn’t at a loss for words and could come up with a witty response, but I couldn’t say much besides that I wanted to get my former best friend naked and quickly. I should have brought a drink if I knew I was going to spend the afternoon at his house.
