CHAPTER 2
CLAYTON
Clayton woke up with the hangover he deserved.
“Dang,” he murmured, hiding his head under a pillow.
His clothes were still on, but luckily his boots were off.
He had no memory of how he ended up in bed.
The last thing he remembered was Shorty dropping him off at his ranch in Franklin, half an hour from downtown Nashville.
His manager was good people, salt of the earth, and he never touched a drop of alcohol.
A paw scratched at his back and he rolled over to find Duke, his yellow Labrador Retriever, hankering for breakfast.
“Are you awake, man?” his younger brother, Nolan, shouted from down the hall. The sound of stomping boots made his head throb even more. “It’s almost eleven.”
“Let me sleep it off a spell,” Clayton drawled, rubbing his temples and hoping the pain would ease.
“Hi, Duke!” Nolan ruffled the dog’s fur as his tail wagged. “Happy new year!” He handed his brother a coffee mug and shook two tablets from the economy-size bottle on the nightstand. “Shorty’s been calling. ”
“I’ll holler back at him later,” Clayton replied, taking a slow sip of coffee. He set the mug down carefully.
“You should take a look at this,” Nolan said, handing him his phone.
“What in tarnation did I do now?” Clayton squinted at a blurry picture of him kissing Jamie Keaton.
“Why in the world did you kiss her?” Nolan asked.
“New Year’s, I reckon,” Clayton offered with a wry chuckle. “Truth be told, I hardly remember doing it.” He sat up and rubbed his left elbow—it hurt something fierce from sleeping on it. “Last night was one big blur.”
“No kidding,” his brother said, sounding unimpressed. “I took your boots off.”
“Shoot, I’m sorry for that,” Clayton said.
“Well, you’ll be sorry if Tammy finds out.”
Clayton reached for his mug. “She doesn’t want me, but she sure as hell doesn’t want me with someone else. What am I supposed to do?”
“You did everything you could, Clay.”
“Yeah, I did.” He blew out a long breath. “Where are the girls?”
“Out riding with Momma and Daddy.”
“Thanks for watching them last night.”
“My pleasure.” Nolan nodded. “They’re growing up so fast.”
“Ten this year . . . double digits.” He glanced at the picture of Jamie and smiled, recalling last night. “Did I ever mention I tried bringing her on tour as my opener?” He set his phone down and remembered why that idea was tossed. “It just wasn’t going to fly with Tammy.”
“Yeah, you told me.”
“Lord have mercy. If you can believe it, she’s even prettier now.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” Nolan said firmly. “She’s got a boyfriend, remember? ”
Clayton closed his eyes and winced, recalling his foolish words. “I made fun of Derrick last night,” he admitted through gritted teeth. “I thought she was joking when she said they’d split up.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. But Clay, you still have to apologize for kissing her, even if it was midnight.”
“I know,” Clayton sighed. He unbuttoned his shirt and stripped down to his boxers. “Do me a favor and send some flowers to her hotel. Shorty knows where she’s staying. I need to sleep this off.” He climbed back into bed, pulling up the sheets. “And remind me not to mix beer with vodka.”
“That’s a good use of my medical degree.” Nolan smirked. “What do you want the card to say?”
“Sorry I was drunk.”