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  “What was that all about?” she asked as she walked up. “Here, I got you a Coke.” I took the cup from her and calmed myself down.

  “Nothing,” I lied. “You just make me nervous, and I’m not a big fan of Johnny Trellis.” I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her middle. “I’m much better now,” I whispered in her ear.

  She got all squirmy in my arms and let out a giggle.

  “Well looky here. Aren’t you two just the picture of perfection?” Lil’s entire body tensed in my arms. “Didn’t take you too long to breeze back into town and hook your talons into the town’s most eligible bachelor.”

  I knew that voice. Melissa Evans. The high school bitch who, not surprisingly, only intensified her bitchiness as an adult.

  “Cool it, Missy,” I said giving her a glare as cold as ice.

  “Well jeez Justin, don’t sound so happy to see me. It was me you were fucking last month, correct?”

  And…shit. That didn’t take long. I heard Lil suck in a breath and try to step out of my arms. I tightened my hold to keep her right where she was.

  “Yeah, well, I needed to fill a void somehow. You just happened to be the one that day,” I said flatly. I wasn’t going to fall into her trap. She only wanted me to get all worked up so she could throw it in Lil’s face that I slept with her ONE time. Except my comment didn’t even faze her. She was that much of a bitch.

  I heard a groan come from Lil like she was in pain. Missy was a year ahead of us in school and they never got along. They sang in choir together but Missy was never quite good enough. Lil got every solo, every lead in the musical. She was miss popularity and not just because she was hot. She was always such a sweetheart to everyone. A little shy, she mostly kept to herself and hung out with me. Except when she had a few beers in her. Then she would loosen up and the wild side would come out.

  “I heard you were back in town,” she addressed Lil. “Guess some people just can’t hack it in the big leagues, huh?”

  Lil’s head swung around to look at Missy. “I’m sorry, did you seriously just say that to me? And what do you possibly know about the big leagues? At least I got somewhere in my career. Unlike you who tried and tried for nothing. Sucks to be second best, doesn’t it?” She looked at me and smiled. “At everything.”

  Oh God. Missy would pitch one hell of a fit over that comment, and Lil had no idea what she was in for. As much as I would love to see Lil run her into the ground, she still needed to be careful. Someone could have a cell phone recording this and it would kill her to have to listen to the media tear her down all over again.

  “You know what, Lily Rae?” she asked using her fingers as air quotes around Lily’s stage name. “You think you can come back here and bat your little eyelashes and fool the whole damn town into thinking you’re America’s fucking sweetheart. You’re pathetic. How you even made it as a country singer is a freaking wonder to me. Hell, to everyone. In fact, I even heard on the radio this morning that the only reason you made it big was because you slept your way to the top. But oh no, you wouldn’t do that would you? Not perfect, sweet Lily Rae. Well guess what? I’m not falling for your little innocent act or that you’re all ‘offended’ someone had the guts to come out and say shit to your face. Everyone is so quick to talk about you behind your back. The town princess’s fall from grace as she comes back to her hometown with her tail between her legs. Doesn’t surprise me that DeLuca took a shot to get between your legs, too. He’s already gone through everyone else in this town. Probably the county.”

  I let her have her little rant. Inside, I wished she wasn’t a woman so I could beat the shit out of her. I was just about to put her in her place when –

  “Well that was a nice little speech, Missy. Did it take you all day to plan that out in your head? You assumed I would be here tonight so of course you did. I’m surprised you didn’t bring notecards for your little show.”

  Missy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at her chest.

  Lil took a step in her direction but I kept my arm around her. For some reason, I felt that if I was touching her she would be protected.

  “Now you listen to me you little small town, white trash, piece of shit,” she hissed. Her jaw was clenched tight and she talked so softly it sounded evil. “I worked my ass off to get to where I was. And not that I owe you any sort of explanation, but since you wanted to start this here I have no problem finishing it. I chose to quit. I walked away because I was tired of everybody getting up in my face about Every. Little. Thing. What I didn’t do was move back here to have some low life wannabe like you get up in my face about Every. Little. Thing. Apparently you feel the need to make me well aware that you slept with Justin. Well guess what, Missy, I don’t care. I know he has a past just the same as I have a past. I’ve done a lot of things and been with a few people I’m not too proud of either. The important thing is that we are moving forward. Together. And like it or not, I’m going to be around a while. So get the fuck over it and move on.”

  She leaned back and put her arm around my waist, latching onto my belt with her fingers. My own hand gripped tightly around her shoulder. It took all the willpower I had not to grab her and kiss her breathless.

  Missy huffed as she turned on her heel and stomped away. I heard Lyons chuckling beside me. “Lil, that was fucking awesome,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for someone to put that bitch in her place for years.”

  I turned her to look at me. Her eyes were huge and she had her hand up to her mouth. “Holy crap,” she breathed. “I can’t believe I just said all that to her.”

  Anyone close enough to hear was staring at us with their eyebrows raised, but no one said a word. Conversation seemed to quickly go back to normal like nothing even happened.

  The next noise I heard out of Lil was a snort and then she did a face plant into my chest, giggling uncontrollably. Her dark hair hung down low almost to the top of her jeans. When she looked up with a big smile it took my breath away. Once she got her shit together, I pulled her in closer to me.

  “You gonna make it, Bright Eyes?” I asked.

  She got her giggles under control as she blinked slowly. “Yeah, Justin. I think I’ll be just fine.”

  Damn, I wanted to kiss her. It was almost as tough holding myself back as it was the night she slept next to me after our date. I think I stared at her for hours that night. She was so peaceful, so beautiful. But she was a different kind of beautiful right now. Her eyes were on fire and her face was flushed from her verbal assault of Missy.

  I leaned in close so only she could hear me. “Let’s get out of here. I have a surprise for you.”

  She looked into my eyes and smiled. We said a hasty ‘bye’ to everyone and headed for my truck.

  “You guys leaving already?” Lyons asked. I turned to give him the finger while he stood there smirking at us. Stupid asshole.

  As we walked to the parking lot, I looked at her and winked. I was nervous that tonight would make or break where this was going. While I didn’t want to rush her physically, I felt such a pull to be near her. There was no way I could wait even another minute to feel her lips on mine.

  Chapter 8

  Justin

  We hopped in my truck and took off north to Highway Ten. Since Glenview was such a small town, it was only a two minute drive to our destination. I decided to take my time and cruise the loop just for old times’ sake. As much as I wanted to build the anticipation, Lil would quickly figure out where we were going.

  Glenview Lake. A manmade lake about a mile outside of town. The city had done a nice job over the years turning the entire area into a small town attraction. A fully equipped campground sat on the east edge of the property. The playground equipment and picnic tables were always in use during the summer months. In front of the roped off swimming area sat a large, sand beach. The long green dock stretched out into the deep end. A raft floated just beyond the end of the dock. The log cabin type lodge sat to the side of the lake, with a
service station where you could rent paddle boats, kayaks, or canoes.

  It was pure beauty. The parks and rec board kept a path mowed around the entire perimeter, but there was also vehicle access a quarter of the way around. It was named Eagle Point because the area was maintained by the local Boy Scout troop. If they only knew what those boy scouts were contributing to by keeping that place clean and tidy. The majority of my buddies lost their virginity behind that lake in their trucks. It was the best place to take chicks in high school.

  And now I was taking Lil back there. Not for some cheap thrill because we needed to hide from our parents, but because it was peaceful. I knew she would love the quiet it provided. A packed cooler of snacks and drinks rested in the bed of the truck. My Lil was always a true beer girl, but since she’d gotten to experience the finer things in life for so long I bought a nice bottle of champagne just in case.

  When I made the turn to pull into the Lake I heard her giggle from the passenger seat. “Are you taking me parking?” she asked.

  “Yes and no,” I answered. “Yes, we are headed back to Eagle Point, but not so I can get you in the backseat and feel you up. As nice as that sounds it’s not the point here.”

  “What is the point?”

  “Peace and quiet. It’s beautiful back there. I know all the high school kids are still at the game so we don’t have to worry about being bothered.”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything. I wished I could read her mind. Was she pissed about this? Was she excited? I had no idea.

  I circled around the path and backed into the trees off to the side. That way if we sat in the truck bed we had a fantastic view of the sunset over the lake.

  I hopped out and opened my back door. Lil hadn’t moved. She sat perfectly still, staring out the windshield. I watched her for a few moments as she closed her eyes and a look of pure pain washed over her face.

  Shit. Maybe this wasn’t such a hot idea after all.

  “Listen, if you don’t want to be out here we can go,” I said to her.

  “What? No. I’m fine. Just lost in thought is all.”

  I grabbed the blankets and threw them into the back.

  “Can I help?” she asked.

  “Nope, just hop up. The cooler is propped against the cab. I’ll throw these blankets down so we have a little cushion and we’re all set.”

  She crawled up the tailgate and into the bed of the truck. I stepped on the tire and threw my leg over to get in.

  “Did you do all this yourself?” she asked as she opened the cooler. “Champagne? Wow, you really went all out!”

  I had to chuckle at her excitement. “Yeah babe, I did all this myself. You would be surprised what I’m capable of after living alone for so long.”

  She tilted her head at me and narrowed her eyes. It made me wonder what was working in that pretty little head of hers. Likely wondering why I never settled down. After my little speech the other night about her meaning something to me, she had to know a little of my reasoning. It wasn’t something I was just gonna come out and say to her again. At least not right now. It was too soon and I didn’t want to push it. And while I would catch her giving me a look every now and then or taking a deep cleansing breath, she had given me no other indication that she had feelings for me.

  That was part of the deal tonight. The phone conversations over the past ten days were a nice catch up on each other’s lives. Fortunately, there was plenty of flirting happening on both ends of the line, but we never actually talked about anything deeper. I needed to make the first move so she knew I was serious.

  “So, Johnny Trellis. I take it you’re no longer a fan, huh?” she asked.

  “Uh, no.”

  “And why’s that?” she prodded.

  “I just don’t trust the guy.” I stopped what I was doing to look at her. “I don’t want you around him, Lil.”

  She scoffed. “Oh, okay master. And when did you become dictator of who I can and cannot talk to?”

  “I’m not fuckin’ around, Lil. Stay away from him. Case closed.” I opened the cooler and began pulling out the meat, cheese and cracker tray and the fruit. When I realized she hadn’t responded to my demand, I glanced at her over my shoulder.

  Her eyes were on fire. I could tell she was trying to calm her breathing and likely counting to ten inside her head. Either way, it was obvious she was going to explode. I had to work really hard not to laugh at her. She was so damn adorable.

  “Stop. Before you even get all pissed– wait, Lil, where are you going?” She got up and hopped out the back of the truck. I could hear her literally stomp with each step as she marched down to the lake.

  I rolled my eyes and sighed. Sometimes she acted like such a spoiled brat. I wasn’t going to give in to her tantrum this time and follow her immediately. I opened a beer, popped a cube of cheese in my mouth, and watched her go.

  Of course I watched her ass the entire time. I was a man after all, and it was a damn fine ass.

  After a few minutes of listening to her talk to herself about how no one would control her ever again, I drug my ass out of the truck and walked down to the water. The scouts had put in their own dock for fishing and she was about half way down, sitting with her legs hanging over the edge. Her arms were crossed at her chest as she stared at the water with a murderous look on her face. I strolled casually up to her and squatted down. She continued to stare at the water.

  “Hey. Stop this,” I said softly as I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “You didn’t upset me,” she replied. “You just plain pissed me off. You have no right telling me who I can and cannot be around Justin. That’s why I quit the business, remember? Because I was sick and tired of being pushed around.”

  “Okay, so instead of throwing it back at me in the truck, you felt like you needed to huff and puff while you stormed off down here?”

  “I did not—”

  “Baby, you did. Now listen, I get that for the last twelve years you did not get to be in total control,” I said gently. “But what you need to learn is that I’m gonna say shit you don’t like. There are certain things that are the way they are, and you need to deal with it. Process it and move forward. If it’s something we need to talk about, we can talk about it. But I don’t like you flyin’ off the handle at me all the time. My only purpose with this, Lily, is to keep you safe.”

  She still hadn’t looked at me. I reached out to grab her chin and pull her face in my direction. That’s when I saw the wetness in her eyes.

  “Honey, please don’t cry.” I knelt down onto my knees and leaned my forehead against hers. “Johnny Trellis was arrested a few years back for domestic assault.”

  I heard her gasp as she snapped her head back to look at me.

  “He and his woman were selling dope out of their fuckin’ basement. One night I guess things got a little heated and he beat the shit out of her. The only reason I know it was bad, babe, is because any time it was talked about your brother Alan would get a sick look on his face. Now I don’t know all the details of what went down with her, but I do know that she spent six weeks in the hospital to recover from that shit. Six weeks. So I’m not trying to be a bossy jerk to you. I’m trying to keep you out of harm’s way. Please do not go near him again. If he’s comin’ your way just turn and walk the other direction. Please, Lillian.”

  She sighed. “Why couldn’t you say it like that in the first place? Instead of going all caveman on me? I’m serious, Justin, I have very little patience for the macho bullshit.”

  I smirked at her and said, “Well, where’s the fun in that? Isn’t it better that we wasted time by you stormin’ off, instead of enjoying the peace and quiet while you drank a glass of champagne in the back of my truck?”

  She rolled her eyes at me but smiled.

  Her smile was breathtaking.

  “I’ll try to tone down the macho bullshit.”

  “You do that.”

  I
held my hand out to help her up and we headed back to the truck. Once we were situated, conversation seemed to return to normal. We mostly talked about the people we saw at the game and what they were up to. She was surprised to hear that David Lyons had never been married. She was downright shocked to learn he was currently single.

  “Why?” I asked. “You wanna go out with him?”

  She laughed. “No. He’s just such a nice guy and he’s always smiling and having a great time. I’m just surprised some girl hasn’t snatched him up by now.”

  “Oh trust me, Lyons has had plenty of opportunities to be snatched up over the years. I really have no clue what his deal is. It’s not like we sit around and talk about our feelings.”

  Unless I’m drunk, spilling my heart about how much I love you, I added quietly in my head.

  “Yeah. He’s not gay is he?”

  I smiled. “I’m pretty positive he’s not gay.”

  “Well, I hope he finds someone that makes him happy. I know he’s all macho caveman like you but he has a softness to him too, I can tell. He’ll make some woman very happy someday.”

  I nodded at her comment. I didn’t want to spend our time out here talking about Lyons and his messed up relationship issues.

  We sat in the quiet for a while, taking in the beauty provided by Mother Nature. The sun had moved down low behind the trees which made them stand out like silhouettes against the copper sky. The sound of locusts buzzed all around us. It wouldn’t be long before the sun disappeared completely for the day and the twinkling night sky would emerge. It was still plenty warm, being the last weekend of August, but the nights were starting to cool down. Fall was right around the corner.

  Lost in my own thoughts, I jumped when Lil moved closer to me. She sat looking out the back of the truck with her knees pulled tight to her chest. Her head was bent down as she set her chin on top of her knees.