“Hugging?” She pursed her lips, shooting another glance in his direction. “That’s not touching.”
“How are you planning to hug Lucky without touching him?”
“Say yes, and you will see.”
I shook my head and laughed, seeing the teasing glint in her eyes. Leaving the girls, I walked over to where Lucky was sitting with his back to the room. He was wearing a tight black shirt tonight. It hugged his broad shoulders and stayed snug down to his waist.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Hi.”
He turned around, giving me a slow smile. If his voice didn’t sell songs, that smile would make it happen. Lucky set the bottle down on the bar. And then his hands were suddenly on my waist, pulling me a few steps closer until I was standing between his legs.
“I think you’re prettier than I remember. Which is funny, because I remember you looking pretty damn hot the last time I saw you.”
A little jolt went through me as I heard his words. And he smelled good tonight. A hint of familiar and a little bit of new.
Lucky leaned in to kiss me. My eyes shut, and I felt him. It was a soft kiss. But it lingered, and then I parted my lips out of reflex. His kiss went deeper. I tasted beer as his tongue brushed across mine.
He kissed better than I remembered. Which was funny, because I remembered him being a pretty spectacular kisser.
Lucky pulled back, giving me a slight peck on the tip of my nose. “That’s the first two. I’ve got quite a few more stored up. It feels like I was gone a long time.”
“I know.” I let my hands rest on the front of his shirt, feeling his chest underneath. My fingers slid up his neck and then to his cheeks. They were lined with a couple of days of scruff.
“I like this,” I whispered.
“You do? I didn’t have time to clean it up.”
“Makes you look authentic.”
“Authentic like some outlaw singer?”
I nodded yes, which he thought was funny. Lucky leaned in, capturing my mouth again. His hands skimmed over my back and across my butt. Kissing him was getting addicting. His lips. My mouth. The warmth of his body as I leaned in against him. If he pushed this any further, I might forget that I was surrounded by people in the middle of The Painted Rose.
Lucky pulled back and stared into my eyes. “I’ve already done a sound check. I want to take you somewhere before the show. It’s just down the street.”
“Okay. But they want to meet you.” I nodded over in the direction of Skylar and Peyton. Dylan had joined the girls at some point. All three of them were staring at me. Peyton even seemed shocked. She never was shocked. Not that I was doing anything inappropriate. But I guess it was out of the ordinary. Okay, it was really out of the ordinary. I was making out with a country singer in a bar.
Lucky got off the barstool, grabbing a leather jacket from the seat next to him. “Let’s go meet your friends.”
Twenty minutes later, we walked out the front door. The introductions had been pleasant. Dylan and Skylar could probably meet a queen and make polite conversation. Peyton was always the wild card. But she held it all together—and there was no hugging.
“Put this on.” He handed me his jacket.
“Won’t you get cold?”
“Nah, I’m fine. It’s warmed up some since I left. Gotta love Oklahoma.”
I laughed. It was true. Freezing one minute. Hot the next. And maybe in the same day. I slipped his black leather jacket over my shoulders. It swallowed me, but it kept the breeze off.
Lucky reached for my hand as we walked slowly down the sidewalk. The lights of the city twinkled around us in the darkness. “So where are we going?”
“Well, I realized something when I got here today. You’ve lived in a lot of places. But you’ve never been to the Center of the Universe.”
“The what?”
He grinned. “You’ll see.”
We turned a corner, walking past one of the high-rise buildings. Lucky pointed off to the side. “See that red sign sticking up over the building? It’s the legendary Cain’s Ballroom.”
“Have you ever played there?”
“No, but I will. It’s on the schedule for next year.”
I squeezed his hand. “That’s a big thing, right?”
“Yeah, it is for me. I’ve wanted to play Cain’s for a while now.”
“What about in there?” I looked over my shoulder at the silver giant behind us. “You want to play that one?”
“The Arena?” He had that smirky grin on his face. “Will you come watch?”
“Maybe. Depends on where my seats are,” I raised my eyebrows, teasing him.
“Backstage.”
A slight shiver went through me as I gave him a hesitant glance. Everything slowly rolled into perspective. Sometimes things seemed so innocent with him and normal, and then other times—bigger. “Do you think it’s really possible?”
“Anything is possible, Katie, if you want it bad enough. That’s the key. You have to want it. Can’t sit back and wait for life to happen.”
I nodded, looking back in front of us. A large walkway opened up. The streetlights outlined a brick path that led to a round design on the ground.
“Welcome to the Center of the Universe.”
I looked up into his brown eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ll stay here. And you go out past the bricks. Just stand there and listen.”
I was so confused. This was a very weird game. “Okay?”
He let go of my hand, motioning for me to start walking. I pulled his jacket tighter around me. About twenty feet away, I stood and waited for something to happen.
Lucky yelled at me. But I couldn’t hear him. “What?”
His lips were moving but no sound. I shrugged. He was probably telling me to jump up and down now. I saw Lucky motion for me to come back. Shaking my head, I walked back over to him.
He smiled, wrapping his arms around me. “So did you hear what I said?”
“No?”
He laughed. “Good—it worked.”
“What worked? Convincing me that you’re crazy? Yeah, that worked.”
“You’re funny.” He kissed my cheek. “When you stand in this exact spot, you can yell anything you want, but no one else can hear you. For that brief moment, you are the Center of the Universe.”
“Is this true?”
“Actually, it is. There’s some strange phenomenon. Like all the sound just echoes back to you. So you hear only yourself and the echoes. But everyone else hears nothing. Want to try it?”
I laughed. “Okay.”
“Those people walking are almost over here. Get close to me, and we will both do it. But we need to yell something bad.”
“Like what?”
His cold nose rubbed against my cheek before his lips placed another kiss. “You tell me? Because I could just yell ‘fuck you’ and call it good.”
“Well, if you cuss them out, you better be certain that invisible shield will hold up.”
He laughed. “Good point.”
“Let’s just scream. Like the zombies are about to kill us.”
Lucky held me tight in the center. “Ready. Go.”
I let loose a bloodcurdling scream. And he howled. Not sure where that came from. I guess his zombie world contained werewolves. The sounds coming from us were loud and crazy, but the people never even looked in our direction.
“It worked.” I laughed as I rested my head against his chest. Lucky slipped his hands inside the jacket. They were cold as he ran them over my back. We held on to each other until the laughter faded away.
“Look at me, Katie.”
I looked up as he smiled, holding me, hooking me with the deep sincerity that danced in his brown eyes.
“In this brief moment,” he whispered. “We are the Center of the Universe and nothing else matters. All the chaos out there is gone. It’s just you and me.”
Maybe it was his voice. Maybe it was the
words. Or maybe it was the magic of this strange place. But something was happening between us. I didn’t have a name for it. But I felt it. And it wasn’t predictable. Nothing about Lucky was remotely predictable.
Smiling up at him, I said, “Earlier. What did you yell in the center?”
“That’s the point. Only the person yelling knows.”
“You don’t play fair,” I whispered.
He kissed me. Soft lips, cold noses, and a warm feeling spreading like wildfire through me. People walked past us. But we never stopped. The world was spinning around while we stood still in the center.
Lucky finally lifted his mouth. Leaning close to my ear, he whispered, “I yelled, ‘Show me your tits.’”
I burst out laughing. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. I knew the sound was blocked when you didn’t come over and hit me.”
“You’re right.” I gave him a gentle punch to the shoulder.
He pulled back and smiled. “Hey, I was going to ask you. What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”
“I already told Peyton I would go home with her.” I’d spent many holidays with her family. Her house was always busting at the seams with her brothers and sisters and their kids and aunts and uncles. They never noticed the extra girl sitting alone in the corner by the fireplace.
“What about Christmas? Are you going to see your family?”
“No.” I felt the weight of the lonely word. “They’re going to Aspen with my dad’s boss. I mean, I could go with them, but I’m not. It’s . . . um . . . weird when I do.”
His eyes softened, taking in my words. “Okay. Then I want you for Christmas.”
I felt his words. It was a strange thought—feeling someone’s words. But they made a soft glow build inside me as the chilly wind hit us from the back. He wanted me for Christmas.
“Okay.”
Lucky and I walked back through the rose-painted door. Pulling off his jacket, I handed it over to him. “Thank you.”
Someone in a red plaid shirt came up to us, slapping Lucky on the back. He was a huge guy with broad shoulders and short red hair with a beard. “There you are. Club manager got on my ass when he realized you’d stepped out.”
“Oh, hell. That guy is convinced every singer is going outside and snorting a line of coke.” He laughed, shaking his head. Looking back over at me, his hand slipped around my waist. “Katie, this is one of my oldest friends and drummer, Clark Keller.”
He’d told me about the guys who were part of his band. His drummer went all the way back to the second grade. Clark had followed him to Nashville, but unlike Lucky, he had gone all-in and actually moved there.
“Nice to meet you, Katie.” He stuck out a hand, capturing mine in a firm shake, and I wondered if those drumsticks ever snapped in his large fists. This guy should be playing for the NFL instead of on a stage.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“So you must be the Katie that caused Lucky to write all that fucked-up lovey-dovey shit while he was back.”
Lucky laughed. “And this shithead can’t figure out why women hate him.”
“I would say, don’t believe a word out of his ugly mouth. But you are just as pretty as he said you’d be. And he said it a shit-ton. Especially the night of my birthday when he got drunk and . . . what was it that you kept saying? I want to touch her pretty little—”
“Okay. That’s enough.” He gave me a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll see you after the show.”
“Later, Katie,” Clark yelled over his shoulder.
I found my roommates at a table close to the little stage. The wild look on Peyton’s face meant she was already on drink three. I felt like her mother sometimes. I knew her face at drink one, three, six, and nine. Nine was toilet-bowl face.
Everything about Peyton was always big, like flares shooting up in the sky. But fireworks eventually lost their sparkle and crashed, which broke my heart. The truth: she always hoped her hook-ups would lead to some form of declaration.
Maybe the guy in the parking lot would pay attention to her the next day. Maybe the guy in the bar bathroom would lead to love. Maybe the one who took her back to his apartment would give her “the rose.” But like her reality shows, her reality wasn’t much different.
I cared about her. Very much. Her friendship meant everything to me. Even though Skylar was the more stable of my roommates, I had always been closer to Peyton. She included me in her life and her family when she didn’t have to. And I would have to break the news about Christmas. This would be the first time in four years that I didn’t spend it in Bedford with her.
“Hey.” I sat down in a chair.
“So where did you go with him?” I was right. Peyton had about three drinks in an hour based on the slight pitch to her voice and the fact that she rested her head against my shoulder.
“Just for a walk. You okay?”
“Yep.” She perked up, pointing across the room. “See that guy over there?”
“Yeah . . . that’s Clark.”
She tossed me a wicked grin. “I know.”
My eyes got big at her implication. What did she do?
Dylan stood up, interrupting us. “You girls want another round?”
“Get me one of these.” Peyton shook her glass in the air and laughed. “It tastes like candy. Sexy candy. Or sex candy. Is that a thing?”
“I wouldn’t know.” Lucky hadn’t even played yet. If Dylan kept giving drinks to my roommate, there would be vomit all over his pretty leather seats on the way home. But I didn’t say anything as he disappeared in the direction of the bar.
Turning my attention back to Peyton, I asked, “What did you do with Clark?”
“Nothing yet. But look at him. He’s like the biggest guy I’ve ever seen in person. And you know what that means.”
“Peyton. That’s Lucky’s friend.”
She winked. “Told you I wanted one of them too. And he’s a drummer. Did you see those hands? He could totally pull off monkey style.”
What the crap? I didn’t want to know. Shaking my head, I let the conversation end on that note.
The opening act took the stage in black leather pants and a red shirt that plunged deep and showed off the lace outline of her black bra. She played a few notes before introducing herself as Sasha Love. I wondered if that was a stage name. Her songs were filled with deep passion as she played the piano and emptied her heartache into the microphone. Some guy must have crushed her pretty bad.
After a brief intermission, Lucky came on stage. He looked over in our direction and smiled. A set guy brought out another guitar, placing it on the stand next to a stool.
After getting situated, he leaned up to the mic. “Thank y’all for having me tonight. I’m Landon Evans. Anyone out there ever get mad enough to burn some shit down?”
A few hell yeahs came from the audience, making Lucky grin. “Well, this one’s for you. It’s called Burning Confession.”
His fingers moved in a slow rhythm as the haunting notes spilled out into the room. Lucky sang the words with his eyes closed. I was mesmerized. Captivated by the music. Captivated by the man.
She said her heart didn’t love me anymore,
And her body belonged to him.
As she spoke those cryptic words,
The fire started brewin’ deep within.
I couldn’t sit there in our house,
Listenin’ to her lies and fake tears.
They were little sparks ignitin’ the flames,
That burned right through my ears.
But her words were like embers,
Burnin’ holes inside my broken heart.
So I drove away in my truck,
Before the fire could tear me apart.
I drove fast and hard.
As I felt myself losin’ my mind,
Losin’ to the flames.
’Cause all I kept hearin’,
Were her lips,
Sayin’ his name.
With her bur
ning confession.
I took a step back from his porch,
As the match caught the flame.
The wood burned hot,
And I gave her all the blame.
Whether it was right or wrong,
I knew it wasn’t for nothin’.
With a grim smile, I felt no remorse,
’Cause he had it comin’.
I drove away fast and hard,
Losin’ my mind to the flames.
And I knew after tonight,
None of us would ever be the same.
But I kept on drivin’,
As the boards came crashin’ down.
They tore through every memory,
And burned them to the ground.
And when they took me away,
The cuffs cut deep.
But I knew nothin’ else would ever hurt the same.
As hearin’ her burnin’ confession.
As the song came to a close, his eyes opened and the smile came slowly. Everyone clapped and then he lit into a fast song and stood up from the stool, moving around the stage.
“Shake that ass, cowboy!” Peyton screamed next to me, sloshing her glass of Sexy Candy on the table. I covered my face in embarrassment.
The fast song ended, and Lucky took a seat back on the stool. “I haven’t played this one in public before.”
The soft notes came through the speakers. Lucky glanced over at me and grinned. My heart started beating fast. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t do this, and then he did.
If the days feel lonely and the nights get tough,
Just know that I’m thinkin’ of you,
Even when I’m gone,
And the days get rough.
I’ll come back to you,
A promise I will always keep.
So close your eyes,
And think of me as you fall asleep.
’Cause nothin’ has ever felt this right.
Good night, my darlin’. Good night.
Our eyes met several times as each word came out in his deep voice. He stopped playing when he reached the last verse and sang without the guitar.
And as my head touches the pillow,
My Lucky Days: A Novel Page 8
