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“Yeah, this is a fun time. What are you up to tonight?”

“I don’t know, I assume Tracy has some type of hang out planned. Why?”

“Why don’t you swing by the hotel where I’m staying? We can grab a drink in the bar, hang out for a few?”

“I’d like that,” Maye couldn’t hide her smile.

“Good! I gotta run, but I’ll text you the info!” As Chris started to walk away, he turned back. “A 12-point buck, Maye!”

- 37 -

Acoustic Set

at the Hotel Bar

Chris met her in the hotel lobby like he said he would. “I’m so glad you came over here,” he said.

“Me too. I wasn’t sure how much time I’d get to spend with you this weekend,” Maye said.

“I got us a booth in the back of the bar, but if you’d rather socialize, we can do that.”

There was nothing Maye wanted more than to spend the next couple of hours with Chris, but she also didn’t want to take him away from his friends. “We can sit and catch up, but I’m fine with either,” she said.

He smiled and led her through the bar, passed Paul Greene playing an acoustic set, and to a quiet booth near the back. Chris ordered a pitcher of their house sangria and they held hands and sat quietly together for a few minutes until she broke the silence.

“There was something that you started to say a while back about what we could be after the holidays, do you remember that?”

He nodded slowly. “I do. I’ve been wondering if, after this busyness settles down, if you would like to give this a try, me and you? Like, something exclusive?”

Maye couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What’s funny?” he asked.

“It’s just that anytime Tracy hears or sees the word ‘exclusive’ she shouts ‘exclusie!’ and I can never not hear that.”

“Well, now I will never not hear that, too, so thanks for that,” he said. “So, what do you think? I feel like we’re on the same page, but you never really know.”

She was slightly disappointed that he wanted to wait. So much had happened in her life since July, and she felt ready to continue growing and changing, and she really wanted to do that with Chris.

“Why the hesitation?” he asked, his forehead wrinkled with deep sincerity.

“I just wish we didn’t have to wait,” she admitted.

Chris lowered his head. “I know,” he said softly. “This is more of a me thing, it’s not anything to do with you.”

“How do you mean?” she asked.

“I used to be very impulsive—”

“Used to? I’m sorry,” she immediately felt bad. “That was mean, I was joking.”

“No, it’s okay. I am still a bit spontaneous, but I used to go every which way the wind took me, and I left a lot of things unfinished, or I’d make a mess of a situation because I didn’t think it through enough ahead of time, and I just got really burned out.”

“So you have learned to create boundaries for yourself?” she said.

“Exactly,” he said. “Right or wrong, it’s something I need to do. As much as I can, I like to have clear starts and stops to the seasons in my life.” He looked up sharply. “Not that I think you’re a season in my life. This show and the holidays, these are…”

“I get it,” she said. “They’re phases you want to complete before you begin something new.”