Chapter 20
Greg and Lisa live outside of town in a two-story white farmhouse that sits on ten acres of land. Behind it is a large garden that keeps all of our refrigerators stocked with fresh veggies this time of year. Greg receives a steady flow of royalty checks from the songs he’s played on, but despite that, he doesn’t lead a lavish lifestyle. He’s still a simple man.
Liam has a house further back on the property he built a few years ago, but it’s usually empty when we aren’t recording.
Greg and Lisa have two other kids—Madison and Thomas. Madison and I were friends tangentially since our families were so intertwined, but she was introverted, rarely interested in the partying that Josie and I got ourselves into. Liam is the typical middle child, always into some kind of mischief, so he and I were much closer. Thomas lives in Nashville, and when Liam isn’t here he usually crashes at Thomas’s house and hooks up with half the city.
When Austin and I arrive, we’re greeted by their golden retriever, Lucy. She comes bounding up, her tail wagging enthusiastically, her rear end shaking from the movement. She hits him with her paw, indicating she wants him to pet her. He bends to give her his undivided attention, scratching her head and up and down her back with his big competent hands. Hands that I’m sure would be good at other things too.
“Do you have any pets?” I ask, distracting myself from that train of thought.
“Nah, I’m not home enough for a pet. My aunt had outdoor cats when I was a kid, and now they have a dog. She’s a shelter rescue named Gracie. When life slows down, I think I wouldn't mind having one of my own, though,” he answers while Lucy licks every inch of his face.
Suddenly, Liam’s dog hobbles next to Lucy, yapping and wanting his share of the attention. Austin looks up at me, his eyes wide and a lopsided grin forming. Belatedly, I think to myself that I probably should have prepared him.
“So, Muttley Crew here belongs to Liam.” Muttley is so old we’re not sure how he’s still alive. He was a stray, so no one actually knows his age, but Liam has had him for twelve years, so we know he’s at least older than that. He’s missing a front leg, his black fur is falling out in patches, and his tongue juts out of one corner of his mouth because most of his teeth are missing.
“That's a good one—Muttley Crew. I like it.” Austin kneels to give Muttley some head scratches, and looks up at me. “I like this guy. He’s got grit. If he could talk, I bet he’d have some stories to tell.”
Austin finally drags himself away from the dogs and we head inside. We’re greeted with a flurry of commotion as everyone bustles around, stirring pots on the stove and setting the table. It seems like everyone’s made an effort to be here to celebrate the album. I even hear Jackson and Liam’s voices drifting in from the back patio where Greg is grilling steaks.
Everyone has brought a dish of some kind, and we set it all out buffet-style on the large island, and Greg comes in with a platter of steaks. Once my plate is piled high, I head to the dining room. They have a long table that seats twelve, with a leaf that we’ve occasionally had to put in when we need more seating. Greg built it specifically for family dinners.
I sit next to Austin, and Abby rushes to claim the seat on his other side. My phone buzzes in my lap, and I look down to see a text from Josie.
Josie
You better watch out or Abby’s gonna steal him from you.
I smile and put my phone away, shooting Josie an amused look across the table. Abby’s crush is cute, and he’s being so sweet to her, asking her about school and her friends. She asks him what his favorite song is and his answer hits me straight in the heart.
“Between you and me,” Austin says conspiratorially, “I’m working on it now, and my girl, Penny, will make it a number one.”
My girl . My chest squeezes at his words.
Throughout the entire dinner, I'm hyper-aware of his leg pressed up against mine, and when he slings his long arm across the back of my chair, his fingers absentmindedly play with my hair and my heart kicks into high gear, pounding quick staccato beats. My breath hitches, and he glances over at me, one side of his mouth tipping up.
“You good?”
“Yep! All good here!” Why do my words sound all breathy and high-pitched? A dead giveaway.
Once dinner is over, I sidle up next to Lisa.
“Hey, can Austin borrow some swim trunks? He doesn’t have any with him.”
“Of course! I think there’s some of Liam’s in his old bedroom. Bottom left drawer in the dresser,” she says, pointing toward the stairs.
I head upstairs with Austin following behind me toward the room that was Liam’s until he moved out. I open the drawer that Lisa mentioned and he kneels, sorting through several pairs, before settling on a couple. Standing, he holds them up to show me.
“So we have these two that’ll fit. Which one will it be?” He’s struggling to keep a straight face, and my eyes go wide at the pair in his left hand. They’re bright blue with a rooster on the crotch. Down one leg are the words Are you looking at my cock?
I snort, covering my face with my hands. “Oh my god, of course Liam had shorts that say that. You cannot wear those. This is a family friendly affair. Wear the others.” In Austin’s other hand is a pair of bright pink shorts with unicorn floats all over them. “Can that ego of yours handle pink shorts?”
He doesn’t answer, he just looks at me, grinning, and starts undressing. I can’t tear my eyes away as he reaches behind his head, tugging his shirt off. All the muscles in his back and arms ripple as he strips down to his boxer briefs, displaying a very generous bulge. He steps into the swim trunks, meanwhile, I’m weighing the pros and cons of letting him have me right here in Liam’s old bedroom. Nope, shut up, brain.
I strip down to my swimsuit, and his eyes heat when he sees it. It’s a yellow two-piece with a halter top that ties at my neck.
“You okay there? You look kinda…” I bob my head side to side. “Flushed.”
Austin grabs my hand, pulling me to him, and his mouth is on mine. His erection presses against my soft stomach letting me know he’s struggling mightily in the self-restraint department today, too.
My hands go to his biceps, clinging to them like they’re the only thing anchoring me through this dizzying kiss. Every inch of me hums with anticipation, my nipples pebbling as his tongue moves in tandem with mine. Our kiss becomes frantic and Austin shifts his thigh between my legs. I grind against it, chasing some kind of friction.
Austin’s mouth leaves mine, and I whimper at the loss. “You gonna come on my leg, baby?” he asks, pupils blown wide.
Footsteps thunder up the stairs, and I hear Abby’s voice yelling something to Josie. It’s like a cold splash of water, and we jump apart. I let out a strangled groan. Is there a female version of blue balls? If so, I’ll definitely have it today.
Neither of us moves immediately, we just stand, chests rising and falling rapidly. Then Austin trails his eyes down my body, huffs a breathless laugh and turns to his pile of clothes on the bed.
Once he’s gathered his clothes we head back downstairs to join everyone by the pool. Despite their relatively simple life, Greg and Lisa did splurge on a gorgeous swimming pool. There’s a rock waterfall, a spiral slide, and a sunbathing ledge.
There’s a cooler of beer, and I hear Liam offer one to Austin. Hesitation is written all over his face, but after eyeing the can for a beat, he says, “Naw, man, I’m good.”
He grabs sodas for both of us and we move to sit next to Josie and Lisa.
Greg clears his throat, and we look up at him. “Austin, I wanna take a minute before I either get too tipsy or too full of steak to say it. We see a lot of people come through here. Some record number ones and some don’t, but I’ve got a feeling about yours, son. You’ve got some real talent, and I’m damn proud to have worked with you.”
Everyone raises their drinks in cheers, but a throat clears beside me, and to everyone’s surprise, Ed stands holding his beer.
“I’m not—” He clears his throat and starts again. “I’m not big on talking.”
Everyone chuckles because that's the understatement of the year.
“Charlie Miller recorded all kinds of music for whoever passed through, but you can ask anyone here; his favorite was country. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, George Jones, you name it. Austin, he’d have loved this album. There were times last week when we were recording and I could almost hear him sitting in the corner, saying, ‘That's a damn good song.’” Ed pulls up one shoulder slightly, and sits back down by his wife.
I’m trying to swallow the golf ball-sized lump rising in my throat and I look around to see Lisa and Josie wiping their eyes.
“Well, I reckon Ed’s met his quota of words for the next six months,” Liam says, lightening the mood.
* * *
After a full day of eating, tossing the kids around in the pool, and lounging around talking, we make our way over to a roaring fire pit. It’s a hot evening, but Josie insisted we needed it for “atmospheric vibes.” Liam has his guitar out, softly strumming some chords, and I’m leaning against Austin on the bench we’re seated on.
We sing along to the songs, many of them the soundtrack of my childhood with my mom and dad, bringing back all the memories that I’ve clung to. When I close my eyes, I can see them in my mind’s eye like Polaroid snapshots flashing in and out, one by one. As I relive each memory, Austin trails his fingers up and down my arm, like he’s playing chords to his favorite song, and I know it’s time.
As soon as Greg and Ed talked about my dad and how much he’d have loved recording this album, I knew I had to show him what Josie refers to as “the shrine.” If I’m planning on allowing Austin into my life, I want him to get to know all the parts of me, and this grief that I still can’t seem to find closure to is one of those parts.
Austin clearly has his own demons locked up tight, and I trust that he’ll open up when he’s ready. But he told me he wanted something real. Tonight I’m choosing to roll over and expose my sensitive underbelly, as scary as it will be.
The fire pit is down to low-burning embers, and I see Lisa stifle a yawn.
I lean over to him and whisper, “I’m ready to go.”
He stands, pulling me to my feet and everyone else takes our cue, rising to leave as well. After several minutes of goodbyes and claps on the back, we gather our stuff and climb into the van, heading to my house in silence.
I’m the first to break the silence when he pulls into my driveway and cuts the engine. “Wanna stay for a while?”
Austin glances at me wearing an unreadable expression. “Yeah, Penn, I’ll stay.”