Chapter 12
Twelve
Johnny
“Icould get used to this,” Devon said as we relaxed in the hot tub. The sun had set, and the stars were out. It was beautiful and even if it was a little cold, neither of us cared.
“Me too, and I haven’t seen so many stars since I was a kid,” I said, and a part of me was sad that it was true.
We used to camp or hike regularly and over the years I’d forgotten how much I liked it.
There was something about being surrounded by thousands of trees with nothing but the sounds of birds and animals around you.
It was the opposite of my life in the city, and I savored it.
“Imagine if we lived here and this was our nightly routine,” he said and relaxed back against the edge of the tub.
“I didn’t know hot tubs were still a thing,” I admitted.
He raised his head enough to grin at me. “Me either, but I’m glad there’s one here. The old guy that owns it said they used to come here every weekend, but the past few years they only make it up here a few times in the summer. He was happy we’d be staying here a while.”
“It would be nice to have a place to go to every weekend to get away from it all.”
“Yeah, if our job wasn’t mainly on the weekend,” Devon said and reached for my hand. “We’d have to make our days off during the week. Which would be awesome because no one would be around. Less traffic and no one at the little store when we go for groceries.”
“I don’t think there’s ever a crowd at that store. It’s the only thing around here for miles. It probably gets most of its business from travelers. People who live out like this would usually go into town to stock up once a month then just do small shopping at a place like that.”
“I never thought about it, but I bet you’re right.
It would be way too expensive to shop there all the time.
They said it gets snow here too, and that the road can be tricky if there’s a lot of rain.
” He relaxed back against the tub, and I stared at him for far too long.
He was beautiful. His dark hair was slicked back off his face and his barely there beard that seemed to be there even when he shaved glistened with droplets of moisture from the steam that rose off the water.
But his eyes were my favorite. Dark brown and filled with so much swirling emotion.
He was more than I ever thought I deserved, but for some reason only he knew, he loved me as much as I loved him.
“That explains all the wood. They have enough stacked up for a few winters. If they were only here in the summer they must not have used as much as they did when they came here during the winter. I could go for being snowed in for a week or so,” I said.
“What if the power was out?” Devon asked and cracked one eye open.
“They have a generator. I saw the instructions for it in the handbook on the kitchen counter.”
“We could hide here for months, and no one would ever find us.” He didn’t move but his lips twitched with a grin.
“Tanner would find us. He always finds us,” I said, and for once I found it amusing instead of annoying. Tanner did his job the best he could and with all the band members who had gone missing either by too much partying or several other reasons, he always found them.
“How long has he been your manager?” Devon asked.
“I met him years ago, but he was just getting into band management, and the band I was with at that time didn’t think we needed anyone to tell us what to do.
That lasted about three months before I moved on to another group.
We didn’t meet again until three years ago when he was putting together Anchor Grey.
He remembered me and heard I was not only a great guitar player and singer, but also that I was dependable. ”
“That’s a rare trait in this business,” he said knowing we both knew exactly how rare it was.
“Yeah, but both of us are the kind of guys who have integrity. I love that about you. I could see it in your eyes the first time we met. You were hungry for the business, and I knew you were willing to do whatever it took.”
“I was.” He sat up then and held both my hands. “Let’s just enjoy our time together. I don’t want to talk about the band.” His eyes were soft and full of love. Love for me. He scooted closer and I lifted my arm behind him as he rested his head on my shoulder.
“See that big W right there? That’s Cassiopia,” I said and he stared down my arm to where I pointed.
He gasped and I knew he’d seen it. “I can’t believe I can see it. What other ones do you know?”
For now, work was forgotten as I showed him the constellations I remembered my grandfather showing me on our camping trips.
We’d had so many crazy nights the past year.
Eaten at expensive restaurants and partied with some people who thought they were famous, and some that really were.
But this time right here, was better than any of those moments.
And being here with Devon right now, I knew things had to change.
Whether he wanted to talk about it or not, eventually we would, and I hoped we both were happy with decisions made.
“What other constellations do you know?” he asked as the two of us stared up into a sky so bright with stars I couldn’t remember a sky ever looking so beautiful.
“I know a few. There’s an app that shows where they are too,” I said.
“I like it better when you show me,” he said and snuggled back into my side.