Page 36 of Flawless

I was having a few beers at a local watering hole with friends I’d known for years, when the cover band took the stage and started talking about how they’d been inspired by one of Rylee’s new songs.

Since we were the worst kept secret in the country, I knew this would lead to more trash-talking from my buddies about how Rylee was way out of my league. They weren’t wrong, but I’d learned to quit questioning why she’d fallen for me, and just be grateful she had.

My rowdy crew actually stopped talking long enough to listen to the song before the local fire chief, and my long-time friend, Billy, slapped me on the back. “Man, I don’t know how long you’re gonna be able to hold onto that little bombshell, but just know we’re all livin’ vicariously through you, for as long as it lasts.”

“Cheers to that,” my friends said, raising their glasses in unison.

I knew they didn’t mean it as a gut-punch. I hadn’t told them things were getting serious, and since I hadn’t known Rylee long, they probably assumed it was just a feel-good fling. But there was nothing casual about the way I felt about her.

If anything, it was all-consuming.

“I don’t know,” my buddy, Rob, a police detective said. “I saw the pics your sister posted at your folks’ place this weekend.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “You’re introducing her to the fam already, Sheriff? Sounds serious to me.”

All my friends were married with kids. They’d settled down with local girls they’d known forever, or college sweethearts they’d met when going to school out of state. I was the lone holdout. Not by choice, but because it took me this long to meet… Rylee.

We were out for beers, talking shop, sports, and hobbies. I didn’t want to get too heavy, but I couldn’t let them think what I had with Rylee was just a brief fling either.

“She’s a great girl.” I brought the bottle to my lips, weighing how much I wanted to reveal. “I’m really into her.”

Billy laughed. “I bet you are.”

That prompted laughter from everyone else before I silenced them with a look. “It’s more than sex. A hell of a lot more.”

Rob frowned. “Yeah, but it’s not like it can go anywhere. Man, she’s way too young. No way she’ll be ready to settle down anytime soon.” He chuckled. “And if she tells you she is, she’s lying. To you and herself.”

The other four guys at the table nodded in agreement before, Jake, a friend who owned a local contracting business said, “He’s not wrong, Cam. Shit, I thought I was ready to get married at twenty-four too. Biggest mistake of my life.”

He’d married young and divorced within two years, but claimed he didn’t regret it because the union produced twin boys he adored.

I wanted to argue. To claim Rylee wasn’t like them. She’d been through hell, and that made her more mature than most twenty-four-year-olds.

But was I just believing what I wanted to believe?

“Look brother,” Rob said, curling his hand around my shoulder. “No one’s tellin’ you not to have a good time with her. Truth is, we’re all jealous as hell that you get to heat up the sheets with that little firecracker. But don’t expect it to go anywhere.”

“Yeah,” Billy chimed in. “She may tell you she’s all in.” He laughed. “But give it a few months. She’ll meet some rising country star at one of those fancy red-carpet events or awards shows and it’ll be ‘Cam who’?”

The beer was churning in my gut as I imagined the scene he described playing out.

My phone buzzed and I was grateful for an excuse to bail. I couldn’t listen to any more of this shit.

“I need to take this outside, guys. Be right back.”

I didn’t wait for a response before I bolted for the door. I needed fresh air. And to hear her voice.

“Hey, babe,” she said, as soon as I connected the call. “I know we were supposed to talk later, but I have this thing to go to tonight and I’ll probably be getting in pretty late.”

I leaned up against the old building. My head and the heel of my boot resting against the brick. “It’s okay.” I cleared my throat when I realized my voice sounded raspy. “I’m just having a few beers with the boys. What’re you up to tonight?”

She sighed. “A friend of mine, Easton Hart, is opening a bar in town and the label wants a bunch of us to make an appearance, maybe sing a few songs.”

I knew Easton Hart was happily married with kids. But my friends’ words came back to haunt me as I imagined the next big thing in country music chatting her up, flirting with her, wanting to take her home.

Damn it. This relationship couldn’t work if I let poison take root, but I refused to ask her for reassurance, like a wuss, every other day.

“Cam, you still there?”

“Yeah, sorry.”