Covering the Carolinas (27 page)

Shaking the thoughts from my mind, I decide to focus
on the task at hand. What am I going to wear tonight? I can’t
overdo it because it’s just Martin’s, but I definitely want to make
Jake sweat all night long. Glancing in my closet, I choose a pair
of Rock n Roll Cowgirl jeans and a fitted hot pink tank top. For
kicks, I grab a matching bra and panties, because the way things
are going, who knows what bed I’ll end up in tonight.

The music is still playing in the background as I
begin to do my makeup and hair. As the song ends, that’s when I
hear the first beat to my newly released song, “Some Kinda
Heartbreak.” I drop my blush and scream to the top of my lungs. My
door swings open, and Mama, Beau, and Jake are all standing there
as if they are about to enter a crime scene.

“
OHMYGOWD! Y’all,
that’s
my song!”

Mama and I start singing while
Beau stands there with a proud smile plastered on his face.
It makes me smile even more that my big brother
is happy for me because sometimes it is questionable.
Mama takes advantage of the moment as she seizes
him into her arms and dances with her baby boy while Jake takes the
towel and briefly dries his hair. Then, he approaches me, still
damp from the shower and shirtless.
My, oh
my! I have died and gone to country girl heaven!
He asks for my hand, and we dance like no one is
watching to my song in my bedroom. Jake takes a moment to surprise
me by singing the words into my ear. “You’re some kinda heartbreak,
the kinda mistake, that I want to hold on to…” As I gaze up into
those eyes, my heart melts.

When the song ends, we are brought back to reality.
Jake winks at me and steps away, just like he would have done if it
were this time yesterday. Mama gives me a hug, and I finish getting
ready for Martin’s. Lord knows it’s gonna be a long night if we
have to play it cool because we are anything but cool.

Chapter 4

Mama insists that we eat supper before going to the
pool hall. We all come together at the table—Mama, Daddy, Beau, my
grandparents, Jake and I. Mama has outdone herself again with fried
chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, and homemade biscuits.
Mawmaw brought her famous peach cobbler, and we are stuffed by the
time it’s over.

We take a few extra minutes to enjoy their company,
which is something that we don’t have often on the road. Jake takes
every chance he can to brush the side of my leg with his hand, and
it is driving me crazy. The sooner we get out of here the
better.

I excuse Jake and myself from supper, and we make
our way to the truck. He catches me off guard by opening the door
and helping me inside before heading to the driver’s side. Once he
closes the door, he looks my way and smiles that perfect, up to no
good, but I like it, grin.

“
Belle, come here.” I do as he asks and slide
closer to him. Laying my head on his shoulder, I realize that I
could get used to this, especially on the road. To know that I have
someone at every stop would be amazing, but if I’m being real, I
just don’t know how this is going to work when we go back on
tour.

Within minutes, we are at Martin’s Pool Hall, and
not one thing has changed. Chase’s truck is here along with
Lyndsay’s car. Glancing around, I recognize a few other cars,
including the bartender’s.

“
Come on. Let me show you how it’s done in
Lattimore,” I say as I slide out the passenger side.

As I open the screen door, the smell of stale beer
and cigarettes tickle my nose. Jerry is in his usual spot behind
the bar. He whistles when I walk through the door. Leaving Jake at
the entrance, I run to Jerry, throwing my arms around his neck. I
can’t believe I’m actually home.

After spinning me around, Jerry puts me down. I
introduce Jake to him and the other locals. Chase has a pool table
set and ready to go. We order a round of beers and crank up the
jukebox with our favorite country songs before choosing teams based
on our scientific method of rock, paper, scissors. Jake and Lyndsay
are paired along with Chase and me.

After the second game, it’s very evident that Jake
got the bad end of the stick on this one. Lyndsay is definitely not
the best at pool, and Chase and I are a team that’s been playing
together for the past five years.

Realizing that this isn’t quite fair, we decide to
play boys against girls, and the girls get beat easily.

Jerry keeps the beers coming, and by number five,
I’m starting to feel the effects. The jukebox begins to play Tim
McGraw and Faith Hill’s “It’s Your Love,” and as if we are at
Joe’s, Chase wraps me in his arms and we dance in the middle of
Martin’s with all eyes on us, including Jake’s.

Chase and I sing every word to each other and
exaggerate our emotions. As the song comes to an end, Chase kisses
the top of my forehead, and we go back to drinking our beer.

“
Y’all do that often?” Jake asks with a hint
of jealousy.

“
That’s our song,” Chase says with territory
in his voice.

“
Of all songs, that’s
y’alls?” Jake questions
.

“
That’s been our song ever since we started
going to Joe’s. They always play it there, and it’s kinda our
thing. I can remember one time this guy was trying his damnedest to
get me to dance with him, and I was trying to explain that I
couldn’t. The next thing I knew Chase and his bouncer self showed
up, and the guy ran off,” I say as Chase smiles at me.

Jake takes a long pull on his beer, but his eyes
never leave mine. For some reason, he’s acting like I’ve done
something wrong, but I’m not sure what.

“
So, tomorrow’s Friday. Do y’all have to work
at Joe’s?” I ask Chase and Lyndsay, not like I don’t already know
the answer.

“
But, of course!” Lyndsay says and then has an
OMG moment. “Y’all should totally come! I swear I won’t tell a
soul. It would be awesome. I bet people won’t even recognize y’all.
Oh, hell, who am I kidding? You know they will, but come on!
Pleeeeaaassssssseeeee?!” she begs.

As I look at Chase for guidance, he smiles. “I’m
game if Jake is. He’s the one that’s gonna have to fight the girls
off.”

Chase chimes in on time as usual, “I hate to break
it to ya, but Belle, you’ve grown up there. Cole is gonna end up
doing something big once you get there. You know that, right?”

“
He better not,” I say with my hands on my
hips. I know that it’s gonna happen, and that we are both gonna end
up on stage tomorrow night.

Knowing that the night is coming to an end, I glance
at Chase and Lyndsay. They know exactly what I’m thinking.

“
No way. Not tonight, Bella Blu,” Chase
says.

I just smirk, look at them and
say, “Last one there
has to jump first!” I grab Jake
by the arm and run out of Martin’s. Jerry is laughing his ass off
behind the bar because he knows exactly what’s up. We’re going to
the trestle.

Bursting through the door, I tell
Jake to fork over his keys. He pauses, and I inform him we don’t
have time for this. He tosses me the keys, and we hurry to the
truck. By the time we hit the main road, Chase is out in
front.
Damn.

“
Do you care to explain this craziness? Or do
I just have to wait till we get there?”

“
When Beau was in high
school, I used to follow him and his friends out here to the train
trestle. He’d get so mad. I think he thought one of them might try
to make a move or somethin’. They’d take a few beers and just chill
on the tracks. It’s hardly ever used anymore, so it’s like an
escape from reality. Then, I started going there to write, and one
day Chase followed me. I gave him a bullshit story that this was my
spot, and if he wanted to stay, he’d have to jump. Well, he did.
So, we decided from that point on, the last one there has to jump.
We pretty much just hang out, shoot the shit, get drunk, and jump.
Every now and then we have to outrun a train, but those
are
few and far between.”

“
You’re fuckin’ kiddin’, right?”

“
That would be a no. I’m serious as a heart
attack.”

“
Damn. Please make sure we aren’t last. I’ve
jumped one time already today, but knowing you’re not waiting at
the bottom makes this one less appealing.”

“
Who knows, I might jump with ya!” I
wink.

As we pull up to the stoplight, I gun it to pass
Chase, and Jake shoots him a bird. Mature I know. We are out in the
lead, and within another five minutes, we’ll be there. As we
approach the trestle, I give Jake a play-by-play of the fastest
route to the middle. As the headlights hit the parking spots, I
realize that Lyndsay has somehow beaten us here.

“
Well, damn. Looks like we’re gonna have to
haul ass if you don’t want to jump.” I throw the truck in park, and
we sprint to the trestle. Chase is right behind us, and I know it’s
gonna be close. Chase runs past me and closes the gap on Jake. Once
he’s past him, Jake slows his sprinting to a jog until I catch
up.

“
Just so you know, I wasn’t
gonna let you jump alone,” he says
.

“
Well, I’m a big girl, and there’s nothing
like the rush you get when you jump. I can promise ya that.” And
with that statement, I take off, leaving Jake in the
dust.

We are all huffing and puffing at the trestle when
Jake arrives. “That was so wrong, Belle. So wrong.”

“
What can I say? You fell for it, Mr. Country
Music God, but if you want me to, I’ll jump with ya.”

Lyndsay and Chase look at each
other. “That
ain’t in the rules, and you know it!”
Lyndsay says.

“
Rules are meant to be broken, and sometimes
they are worth it,” I say as I turn toward Jake.

As we make our way to the middle of the trestle, we
reminisce about the last time we were here. It was the night I
found out about the tour. Lyndsay, Chase, and I came out here to
celebrate, and I put on a private concert for the two of them. We
drank a case of beer, and then Lynds got a call from her boyfriend
at the time. She ditched us, and Chase and I had the best night of
our lives…. alone.

Chase and I have always been friends, but that night
almost crossed the line. We don’t talk about it, but as much as I
try to deny that he has feelings for me, I know that Jake is right.
He does, but I just can’t go there. He’s my best friend, and I
can’t mess that up. If that relationship ended badly, I’d never
forgive myself. I pull myself from those thoughts, and notice that
Chase is looking at me. He’s thinking the same thing. Lyndsay and
Jake are both oblivious to our exchange of glances and engaged in
their own conversation.

Once we reach the middle, it’s do or die for
Jake.

“
Aight, country music god. Let’s see ya do
it,” I say.

“
Y’all are really gonna make me do this?” We
all nod in agreement.

“
Aight, let me remove all forms of
technology,” he says as he removes his phone and all the contents
from the pockets of his jeans. It’s almost a replay of earlier
today, and I look at Lyndsay who is totally drooling. I nudge
Chase, and he laughs at her.

“
What?” she asks. “Chase, you can’t possibly
tell me that if Carrie Underwood were standin’ here right now, you
wouldn’t have to pick up your mouth off the ground.”

“
See somethin’ you like?” Jake asks
Lyndsay.

Standing with the confidence that only she can
possess, she replies, “Damn right I do!”

“
Aight, quit putting off the inevitable and
jump already!” I say.

Jake makes his way to the edge of the trestle and
peers over. “Y’all sure this water is deep enough?” I can see the
worry on his face.

“
Yes!” we yell.

“
But if you want me to, I’ll jump with ya,
regardless of the rules,” I say while removing my shoes and
emptying my pockets. Not giving him a chance to respond, I grab his
hand, count to three, and we jump off the top of the trestle into
the river below.

As soon as our feet leave the track, my adrenaline
increases, and it is pure bliss as we make our way into the water.
Jake never lets go of my hand, and when we surface, he lets out a
holler.

“
That was amazing,” he tells me as he stares
into my eyes. “Just like you.”

Not giving him a chance to make a move in front of
Chase and Lyndsay, I pull him to the bank where things are a little
more private before giving him permission to finish what he started
in the water.

Understanding exactly what I’m doing, Jake takes me
into his muscular arms and brings my lips to his. His hands begin
to roam my body, and everything inside me heats up. It’s very
evident that he feels the same way.

As the heat increases to the point of combustion, I
hear Chase holler for us. “Y’all comin’?”

I unwillingly pull away from Jake
and answer, “On our way!” Then, he pulls
me in for one
more sizzling kiss.

Once we are back at the trestle, I see Chase and
Lyndsay seated on the edge of the track talking in-depth about
something, and if I have to guess, it has to do with Jake and me.
Chase and his damn overprotective self.

Hearing us approach, Chase says, “‘Bout damn
time!”

“
What? Are you mad I won’t ever jump with
you?” I ask with my hands on my hips.