Chapter 19
19
“You ready for this?” Nate asks me. “Here we go with the hard launch.”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
By the time we get to the lodge, the party is already pumping. It’s a family affair, with children running around and people of all ages enjoying each other’s company. Guys wearing their baseball hats backward are drinking beer, older ladies are sipping (possibly fortified) iced tea, groups are playing corn hole and other lawn games, laughing as they catch up with old friends. The scene is like a living snapshot of all the best things about country life.
We get a lot of glances, a few waves. One or two whistles. But with Nate’s arm securely around me, my nerves are gone. I get that unexpected feeling again, of being home.
The front doors of the barn have been rolled all the way open. A band is playing on the stage up at the front corner of the barn—and they’re good.
Tables are decorated with gorgeous flower arrangements and are full of people. A bar that’s been set up along one side is bustling, and a buffet is being loaded up with food. I see Tobias at the far end of it, surrounded and distracted by catering staff.
Dakota’s carrying another flower arrangement, which she sets on a table near the bar. She sees us and runs over.
Nate’s arm is still around me, his other arm holding Daisy.
“Bout time y’all showed up.” Dakota beams at us.
“Hey, darlin’.” Even when he’s talking to his sister, that low Tennessee drawl gets me…hot.
Would you stop?
It’s a major…adjustment, to be with him now, after all those years of dreaming about it. “You and Tobias have done an amazing job, kid,” Nate tells Dakota. “This place looks incredible.”
“You know we couldn’t have done it without you, Nate. And I need to talk to you about stealing my bestie.” She takes my hand. “But not until after I talk to you .” She gently kisses Daisy’s cheek. “How’d the party go?”
“Fun.”
“You stayed the whole night?”
Daisy nods, biting a finger.
“Proud of you, pumpkin.” Dakota touches the back of her hand to Daisy’s cheek with affection .
But nothing can distract Dee from pulling me toward her office. “I need to borrow her for a few minutes,” she calls back over her shoulder. “We’ll be back in five. Actually, probably more like ten.”
Nate watches us walk away. He looks almost like…he misses me already. Almost as much as I miss him already. Damn, that man is gorgeous. He always could make my knees go weak.
As we walk away, though, I can’t help noticing several other women are also staring at him.
It’s not surprising that Nate Boone, especially holding his adorable little Daisy, attracts attention.
But it riles me. He’s mine.
He doesn’t seem to notice how many eyes are on him.
Are they past lovers? Local girls he’s partied with before?
I believe everything Nate said to me. It all felt so natural when we were alone together. So real and so true and so easy. But this small separation reminds me that we still have the entire outside world to navigate.
Dakota pulls me into her office and shuts the door, leaning her back up against it. “Tell me everything.”
“I’m definitely not telling you everything. He’s your brother.”
“Just tell me…general stuff. Not specifics.” She’s practically bursting. “So… did you?”
“Did I what?” I bite my lip, feeling a light heat rise to my face .
“Oh my god, I knew it!” Dee squeals, squeezing my hands. “We’re going to be sisters for real .”
I’m still acclimatizing to my new status as…Nate Boone’s lover. I don’t even know how to categorize it yet.
It’s a little daunting to have it scrutinized and fawned over by an entire small town, starting with my best friend. All I can do is cowgirl up and face it head-on. So I just it tell it like it is. “Dee, I love him. I’ve always loved him.”
Dakota’s eyes fill with tears. “Rox, I mean, it doesn’t shock me. I was there , remember? I saw the way you used to stare at him.”
“I tried not to. We were all too close back then. And too young. At least I was, I guess. I never told you this, but I kissed him once.”
“You did?”
“And then he left.”
She’s quiet for a few seconds. “Rox, it would never have worked out back then. For a lot of reasons.”
“I know.”
“But it can work out now.”
I nod. “Yeah,” I whisper, not wanting to somehow jinx it. “I hope it can.”
“I’ve never, ever seen my brother look at anyone the way he looked at you on Friday night, Rox. The feeling is obviously mutual.”
“I haven’t seen him for so long. But when I got here, I think we both just knew . And we didn’t want to waste any more time. ”
We’re both crying now. “I’m so happy for you, Rox. And obviously for him. And mostly for me.”
I laugh through my tears. “I don’t know why we’re crying.”
“I just hope it was...no, I’m not even going to ask that. You’re right, there are some things a sister should not hear about.”
“True. All I can say is I’m glad I waited for him.”
More tears pool in her eyes.
There’s a loud pounding on the door, making both of us jump. “Dakota!”
“Oh, shit. It’s Luke. Or Leo. They’re ready to play.”
“Play?”
More pounding. Dakota opens the door to both the twins, standing there, guitars slung over their broad chests and actual pieces of wheat sticking out of their mouths, like someone drafted up two stereotypical “hot, wholesome country boys” and with their magic wand somehow brought them to red-blooded life. “Dee, we’re ready. The other band is on their last song. Hey, Rox!”
Leo’s greeting is so enthusiastic it’s obvious they’ve heard the news. It’s confirmed when I’m embraced by one twin, then the other, with all the energy of young bulls on stampede. My hot and heavy night with their brother is clearly a cause for celebration. “Nothing like the country air to re-kindle old flames, eh? We attribute his vastly improved mood entirely to you, gorgeous. ”
“Um, thanks, I guess,” I manage, from inside their testosterone sandwich.
“Would you two stop?” Dee scolds them, pulling them off me.
Washed up, shaved and in their best flannel shirts, there’s no denying the middle brothers are handsome men. The guitars only add to the effect. But all I can feel is how much I miss their older brother. “You guys are going to play some songs?”
“We’ve been working on something special,” Luke says, all green eyes and cocky grin. “A couple brand new songs.”
“Not at all entirely for your benefit, Roxie,” Dakota clarifies. “Just a casual late-afternoon session.”
“A casual late-afternoon session of breaking every heart in town, especially for listeners of the female persuasion.” Leo winks at me.
Dee rolls her eyes. “As long as they don’t swoon to the point where they need medical attention again.”
“That did not happen.” Now I’m curious.
“Unfortunately, it did,” Dee confirms.
“We can’t help being irresistible to womankind, Rox,” Luke smirks. “It’s baked into our DNA.”
“Out, you two.” Dee guides them out of the office. “Get up there and play your hearts out. Make sure you play that song about the Sugar Falls sweetheart. Everyone loves that one. And don’t play any Tucker Brothers’ covers. Roxie’s heard all those. ”
“As if we would,” Leo calls over his shoulder as they make their way toward the stage.
Dee and I find the Boone table and I’m grateful that at least some of their attention is diverted from me to Luke and Leo, who get a big cheer as they climb onto the stage.
Aunt Lou and Betty-Ann make a space for me and pat the seat between them, which I squeeze into, both of them kissing my cheeks and fawning over me. It could be awkward—since they’re basically congratulating me on getting laid by their own son and close-enough-to-a-son. But I’m too riveted by the sight of Nate in the near distance, talking to a woman.
A very beautiful one. Wearing a green dress that shows off her abundant curves.
Daisy, Harper and some other kids are holding popsicles and running around.
The woman touches Nate’s shirt as she says something to him, her eyes full of…something. Longing. Pissed-off disappointment. Hope.
Nate’s fists are shoved into his pockets and he kicks the ground with his boot. He says something to her.
Whatever it is, it gets a reaction. She glares at him, half with rage and half like she’s about to burst into tears. She spits out a reply then walks away.
What the hell was that about?
I can guess and I don’t like it one bit.
Were they together?
Recently ?
How recently?
Was he just breaking up with her then?
Nate wanders back in this direction.
He sees me and his gaze holds mine. There’s a dark challenge there, to go ahead and get mad about whatever it was just happened there. Because something clearly did. But there’s also that slow, hot almost-smile that does what it always does. It kills me. It grips my heart because he’s so beautiful and there’s not a damn thing in this world I can do to stop from loving him.
Right now, I hate that. That his hold on me is so easy and so resolute.
He comes over to me, just as Luke and Leo start playing. The music’s loud. Everyone starts cheering. A few girls scream their names.
Nate curls his warm, rough hand around my neck, letting it rest there. Just like he did when he was deep inside me. To calm me. To reassure me. To anchor all the wild, tumbling feelings that make me lose all control.
The light squeeze communicates a bond I want so badly to believe.
He has some explaining to do. But it’ll have to wait.
Nate’s hand slides to gently tug at my hair… exactly like he did when he held me down and filled me so completely, pumping me full of his hot cum.
God, he felt so good.
Stop it.
Daisy runs up to him asking for a quarter for the gum ball machine and I start to fully register that the music the boys are playing is… really good.
Luke’s on the lead guitar and Leo’s on the bass. They’re much more polished than I might have expected. The two of them have clearly been playing together so much they can practically read each other’s minds. They’re amazingly in sync. They’ve got a natural rhythm and it’s easy to see that they’ve put in their ten thousand hours, which takes their talent to a whole different level, as obsessive practice tends to do.
Luke starts singing, his voice smooth and melodic, and when Leo joins in, my jaw drops. Solo, they’ve got decent voices, but together they sound incredible. And this is original music.
I’m already thinking about record labels and how I might pitch them. A younger, hotter Florida Georgia Line. Sexy, suntanned twin Morgan Wallens.
A whole cluster of girls is now up at the front, some dancing and singing along, some just staring with lovestruck awe.
This music would sell. The whole package of the good looks, the easy country boy charm, the way they play off each other with self-assurance, good humor and musical finesse…would sell .
“They’re incredible,” I say to Betty-Ann and Aunt Lou, who both beam at me like they’re so proud they could burst.
We all watch them play another song. And another. More people are dancing now and the whole party is having fun, like people can’t help but do when music is this catchy and this good.
Dakota and Tobias both come over and stand next to Nate. Tobias sees me and grins at me devilishly. He mouths I love you sister. You okay?
Love you more, I mouth back. And I barely nod.
It’s the you okay? that gets me.
I love them all so much. I want to stay here and live my life here. So much I feel like bursting into tears.
Get a grip, girl.
I’m feeling weirdly emotional.
There’s no reason to cry, or want to.
Unless Nate Boone turns out to still be the player he once was.
Can I trust him? Did that woman in the green dress trust him?
Maybe I should have thought this whole thing through a little more carefully before I saw him for five minutes then jumped into bed with him and threw all caution to the wind.
Yes, you should have.
My anguish at the thought of him with someone else feels disproportionate, already. It feels like more than a human heart would be able to withstand.
I’m so in love with him.
I can weather some storms but what kind of hurricane are we talking about here?
I guess he’ll just have to convince me (again) tonight beyond a shadow of a doubt. Or I’ll be on my way, broken-hearted. With a baby .
Jesus, Roxie, calm down and listen to the music. Stop getting so worked up just because your heart is on overdrive .
The twins hit their final note and the crowd cheers.
“We love you, Sugar Falls,” Luke drawls into the microphone. “Tell all your friends about the Sugar Mountain Lodge. It’s going to be the destination in Tennessee.”
“Goodnight, y’all,” Leo follows. “And don’t go anywhere. We’ve got a special guest playing tonight. Some of you might know him. He’s shy so make sure you give him a Sugar Falls welcome.”
With that they take their bows to their screaming fans and leave the stage.
“Who’s the special guest?” I ask Dakota.
And where’s Nate?
That’s when I see him.
With a guitar.
Walking onto the stage.