Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
And if I could do that, I’d die a happy man.
“When you hear her on the radio, and see her selling out venues, remember you got to see her first here tonight. Please welcome Sunday Morning.”
She hesitated for a second and narrowed her eyes, but when the crowd broke into applause, she found her smile and joined me on stage.
I handed her the mic and leaned in to whisper, “Breathe, baby. You’ve got this.”
She nervously smiled as I sat on the stool. The mic shook in her hands.
“Look at me,” I mouthed.
She returned a tiny nod as I started playing, and then it was just the two of us in the barn loft, sharing the same passion.
When she sang the first line to “Bette Davis Eyes,” the crowd went wild, and Sarah lit up the whole stage with her smile.
Matty gave her his letter jacket, her first kiss, his virginity, and he might even have given her his last name one day, but if he couldn’t give her a chance at her dreams, he might as well have given her nothing.
The enthusiastic Fourth of July crowd gave her a standing ovation and deafening applause. And the second I lifted the guitar strap over my head, she threw her arms around my neck.
She rode that high for the rest of the night while we watched fireworks and made love until the sun rose the next morning.
Matty could have the fame and fortune. World titles and fancy cars. He could have six days and nights. I only wanted Sunday Morning.
I just wanted the girl.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
AIR SUPPLY “ALL OUT OF LOVE”
Sarah
We didn’t say much on the drive back to Devil’s Head. My heart was filled with melancholy. How would things play out at home? Could we keep our relationship a secret until Matt went to school?
Then we could act like it just happened. (Which it did.)
We could say we didn’t see it coming. (Because we didn’t.)
Five weeks.
We just had to make it five more weeks until Matt left for college.
Isaac pulled into a truck stop just off the interstate ten miles from the exit to Devil’s Head, parking in a spot far away from other vehicles.
“Come here,” he said, removing his seat belt.
I did the same and slid across the seat, straddling his lap with my arms around his neck. We shared one long kiss after another, each one making us hungrier for the next. When we stopped to catch our breaths, he pressed his forehead to mine.
“Let’s tell them,” he murmured. “Your family. My family. Let’s just fucking tell them.”
I lifted my head. “No. It’s five weeks until Matt leaves. Nothing good will come from telling anyone now.”
“Is it about the money? Your parents paying rent because—”
“No.” I shook my head. “Well, yes, but that’s not everything. I’m working for your parents this summer. I just don’t want everything to fall apart at once. If we just wait until Matt leaves, he’ll—”
“Baby, Matt going to school won’t change how he’ll feel about us. How would you react if, a couple of months from now, you found out Matt and Eve had been messing around all summer?”
I scrunched my nose. “She’s sixteen.”
“And he’s eighteen. That’s two years. There’s six between us.”
I shrugged. “I have you, so whatever.” I lied because I couldn’t process how something like that would make me feel, and I didn’t want Isaac to be right.
“But what if you didn’t have me?”
I frowned, which made him grin.
“Fine. I get it. Matt’s not going to like it, but I’d rather he be upset with me in Michigan than upset with me here while I’m working for your family. I can use the rest of the summer to drop hints that Matt and I might not stay together. And you can start sitting in the front row at church, so my dad sees your commitment to God, and therefore increasing your chances of him finding you worthy of his daughter.”
I knew that was never going to happen.
“And maybe you can spend more time teaching me to play the guitar, but not always in secret. Then Matt and your parents will get used to seeing us together, even if not really together.”
He nodded slowly. “Okay. But if anyone finds out about this trip, I want you to let me handle it. I’ll deal with my family and yours. Understood?”
“Why—”
Isaac framed my face in his big hands. “Understood?”
I returned a tiny nod.
“Good.” He pecked at my lips. “Now that we have that straight,” he unbuttoned my shorts, “I have one condom left.”
Isaac dropped me off fifteen yards from our driveway with one last kiss. Unfortunately, I had to leave my new clothes, boots, and hat with him so no one at my house would question where I got them. Despite leaving the tangible things behind, I grinned uncontrollably all the way to the front door because the memories we made in three days would stay with me forever.