In the Lyrics (15 page)

Taking a sip from his mug, he clears his throat, “I think you’re right, baby girl. Just promise me you’ll give him a chance though. Give this a solid effort and don’t let your momma talk you out of it either. He likes you, you like him. It’s a match made in heaven.”

“Oh, Lord. I didn’t even think about what she’s gonna say. I can hear her now. Ugh. My head’s starting to hurt just thinkin’ about it,” I whine.

“Baby, your head’s hurting because you drank like a fish last night. I’m honestly surprised you even remember anything.”

I wince. “Touché. Lesson learned on that one.”

Colby’s voice interrupts us. “Morning, y’all.” His voice drawls closer and then I feel his arms wrap around my waist. He’s standing behind me as I sit on the stool at the counter.

Breathing him in, I hum. “Good morning to you too.” This is the first touchy feely kind of thing he’s done like this. Oddly it feels good not to be pushing him away all the time.

“Mornin’,” Dusty says as he grabs another mug from the cabinet and hands it to Colby. “Well, now that you’re up, I’m getting back to…my friend.”

Giggling erupts from my lungs as Dusty does a little dance in the kitchen and then walks towards the hallway.

“What was that about? Wait a minute, is Trevor here?”

I turn around in my seat to face him with a stunned expression on my face. “Seriously, how do you know about Trevor?”

“Dusty’s been talking about him for weeks now. I didn’t just meet him until recently though, and it was really brief.” He shrugs casually. Like him knowing something that I don’t know isn’t a big deal. Newsflash, it’s a huge deal to me. Poor Dusty. I’ve been focusing so much energy on not liking Colby, I’ve forgotten to focus on the most important man in my life. Well, now one of the most important. I guess I really have had Colby on the brain this whole time.

“More coffee, Sunshine?” His voice breaks the sudden silence. I nod as he tops off my cup. “So what do you want to do today?”

Noticing that he is only wearing his flannel pajama bottoms, I feel like I’m having a mini stroke. I can’t talk, like my mouth literally won’t move to form a word and I know if I tried, my mumbling wouldn’t even form full sentences. He is so handsome in a rugged, hardworking, manly way. Where his face is flawless, his hands are rough from working on the farm, and his body is lean and muscular. He’s the type of guy my mom warned me about. Not in the sense that he’s a bad boy biker dude or anything crazy like that, but he’s the type to steal your heart. I just hope that now that I’ve willingly given it to him, he keeps it safe and doesn’t break it.

“Cuddle.” My answer makes him smile from ear to ear.
Those darn dimples.
“Seriously. Don’t make fun! I’ve always wanted to just lie in bed all day and spoon. I’ve just been waiting for the right man to come along and do it with me.” Really, I’ve been waiting for the right man to come along with a chisel in hand and knock down the wall of stone around me. But we all know he conquered that shit a long time ago.

Wiggling his eyebrows, he says, “Oh, we can do it all right.”

I know he is kidding,
wait, is he?
My eyes widen, “Oh my god, you know that’s not what I meant. Let’s just relax all day.”

“Your wish is my command.”

We sit, sipping on our coffee for a few more minutes. The lingering silence would normally make me uncomfortable, but for once in my life I feel content. He makes me feel like a country song, all mushy and hopeful for my own happy ending.

WE SPEND THE rest of the day lounging in our pajamas, watching movies and eating greasy pizza. Dusty and Trevor join us, until Dusty has to get ready for his shift. Colby was scheduled off, and I decide to call in. I’d much rather be lying in his arms than serving college kids who don’t know the meaning of leaving a tip.
Assholes.
Sharing a few more innocent kisses, we fall into comfortableness that I can’t explain. It feels good to be in someone’s arms – in his arms.

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” he asks from the opposite end of the couch.

Looking puzzled, I ask, “Like right now?”

“No, not right now, but this weekend or tomorrow…maybe right now.”

Smiling, I nudge him with my foot. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I guess if you wanted to go on a date with me right now…” he rubs his chin. “Wait, go into my room and sit for like twenty minutes. Play on your phone, practice that new riff, or something. Just stay in there, okay?”

“Should I be scared?”

Sitting up he grabs my hands and then pulls me up to a sitting position too. Bracing himself with one hand behind his back he puts the other over my mouth. “Shut your pretty little face. I told you there was no more being scared. Now do what I said, dammit!” He hoots at his own attempt to sound bossy.
It’s not a bad look on him. What a joke – the inexperienced virgin begging for bossy?

We untangle ourselves from the blankets, and then he walks me to his room and shuts the door, leaving me wondering what he is up to.

Twenty minutes later he opens the door and covers my eyes. He doesn’t ask me to put on any shoes or anything so I assume we’re staying here, until he leads me out the front door. The concrete is cold under my bare feet.

“Open,” he instructs.

“Seriously?” I ask in shock as my eyes take in the surprise in front of me.

“Happy first date,” grabbing my hand he walks me the few extra feet to our own personal picnic. There’s an abundance of food from leftover pizza, chips and cookies, and two Mason jar glasses that sit on his guitar case, filled to the rim with Coca-Cola. “Sit and enjoy.” He winks and for the first time in my adult life I know what it’s like to want something so bad it hurts. I want this, our relationship, to work and I’m ready to do anything in my power to make sure it does. I mean, come on, the man threw together a little homemade picnic. What else could a girl want?

Sitting on the small blanket, he hands me my drink and then pulls his guitar from its case. “I thought we’d end the night on a good note.”

Tears perch themselves on my eyelids.
Since when did I become such a sap?

“Will you sing with me?”

I nod yes, when in reality I want to scream that I’d do anything he asked. The chorus to a song breaks out in my head, because yes, I have it bad.

We sing a few of the songs that we’ve written with Dusty and then he does something I only thought happened on TV, since that’s the only place I’ve seen anything even slightly romantic.

“Will you dance with me?”

“You’re kidding?” I ask bemused.

Standing up, he kicks off his shoes and reaches down and grabs my hand. “Why would I be joking about this? Look up,” he glances at the sky. “Haven’t you ever wanted to dance under the stars?”

“I’ve wanted to do a lot of things that I haven’t.”

Now he looks bemused. “What do you mean, Hensley? If there’s something you want out of life, take it. Life’s short, you don’t want to miss your opportunity to be happy.”

Suddenly it feels like he is talking about something bigger. He’s always so philosophical. I feel like everything he says has a double meaning, but I don’t want to miss this opportunity, so I grab his hand. He pulls me up and places a small kiss on my knuckles.

“What I want is to dance with my boyfriend under the stars.”

“Boyfriend, huh?”

Wrapping one of my hands around the nape of his neck, I joke, “Well, if you’d rather I called someone else my boyfriend, just let me know.”

“If you called someone else your boyfriend, Sunshine, I’d have to beat his ass, and I’m more of a lover than a fighter. So, boyfriend works for me.”

Normally the thought of a title would scare me, but strangely it doesn’t. I have to admit that at first I was a little hesitant. You can’t blame me, but it’s nearly impossible to push someone like Colby away. I can’t even pinpoint what I like about him so much, or what draws me to him. I think that’s why he has me so intrigued, because he just got me. There were no fancy gimmicks or extravagant dates he used to try and woo me. He was just Colby, charming and thoughtful. Once I was able to admit my feelings, I was a goner, and now he’s just along for the ride.

Moving his hands to my waist, we dance under the moonlit sky in a comfortable silence.

IF PEOPLE IN Texas think August is hot, they’ve probably never been to Nashville. There have been heat advisories almost every day, and we’ve had to cancel three classes at Whispering Hills now. They say time flies when you’re having fun. I say time flies when you’re falling in love. And sometimes summer love turns into something more, like fall relationships. Looking back to when I got here, I never would have imagined I would be uttering those words to anyone. Don’t worry, I haven’t said them yet, but I’m on the verge. Knowing it might scare her off is the only reason I’ve kept them in for this long. Two months isn’t long enough to feel those feelings some would claim. But when you know, you know. Hensley is everything I’ve ever wanted in a girlfriend, a partner. Where she is a little rough around the edges still, I know under her hard exterior lies a heart of gold. One day soon, I plan on doing something romantic and telling her how I feel. I hope she’s ready to hear it.

“Sunshine, please. Please…I’m actually begging you, let me drive my truck.” I bring my hands up so it looks like I am praying. Well, I am. Her car is falling apart. We might as well saddle a horse and ride it. We’d get to the university a lot faster.

“Colby!” she screeches as she pats her hand on the steering wheel repeatedly. “You’re going to hurt her feelings. Now we’re already in here, so stop your griping and shut the door.”

There is no arguing with Hensley Bradley. Trust me, I’ve learned that the hard way. Nodding I say, “Yes, ma’am.”

I STILL CAN’T believe two months have already passed since I got to town. Though I admit, we sort of jumped into this relationship a little fast, we’ve been able to learn a lot about one another. Living in such close proximity will do that to a couple. Yeah, we’re sleeping together, technically, but without the sex. I’m not complaining. I want to know everything about her, the good, bad, and the ugly. There was one weekend she went home to stay at her parents’ house. She didn’t invite me to come or to even stop by and meet them. Yeah, it hurt, but I didn’t want to push her. Or make her feel obligated to introduce us. I want her to do it when she feels ready, and not just because I whined like a baby and forced her into it. Hence the reason I’m waiting to tell her how crazy I am about her.

I’ve talked to my momma a handful of times since I’ve been gone. She said things were going well, but there was a distance in her voice, and I know that could only mean one thing – Pop’s drinking has increased. We agreed I’d come home for Thanksgiving break. Her words broke my heart when she said, “That’d be good, baby. I wouldn’t want to go visit your brother without you.” The accident happened on Black Friday. Imagine that, the day after the most thankful holiday in the world. We now dread Thanksgiving and the days that follow it.

After Hensley’s solo visit with her parents, I was in a funk. Days sort of went by rather slowly for me. Levi was all I could think about after that conversation with my momma, and Hensley was starting to pick up on my distance. Long gone was our playful banter, and that’s when we had our first big heart to heart since we decided to both let our guards down and dive into this, whatever this is, head first.