Page 43 of Every Now and Then
My eyes fly open as I jolt upright, squealing in fright. “Holy shit, Laura! You could have warned me you were standing right there. You scared the crap out of me!” I clasp my hand over my hammering heart. My already fried nervous system can’t handle any more surprises tonight.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were so preoccupied that you didn’t hear me. Also, sorry for interrupting you and Josh outside. I assumed you’d gotten an Uber home, so I was curious why you weren’t coming inside.”
“You interrupted me at a good time, breaking us apart before I did something I’d regret.”
“Regret?” She eyes me peculiarly and waves her hand in my general direction. “I can’t tell if this behavior means you had an amazing date with Josh or a terrible one.”
Where do I even begin?
“My date with Josh was going well… until the other members of his band joined us.”
“Members of his band?” Laura interrupts, a look of confusion flutters across her pretty face. “I thought you said he worked at the Ryman?”
“I was mistaken. When I met him, he told me he had to get back to work, so I assumed he worked at the concert venue. But what he actually meant was that he had to go on stage and perform with the headlining act of the music festival. Turns out Josh plays bass guitar in this little band you may have heard of called Outlaw,” I deadpan.
“Outlaw!” Laura’s jaw drops to the floor before she jumps up and down, squealing quietly so as not to wake the girls, who are asleep in a guest room just a few feet off the living room. “What? You went on a date with Josh Harper!”
“And that’s not even the craziest part of the night!”
Laura holds up a hand. “Stop. Stop this instant. We need wine.” She runs into her kitchen, and I follow her. Pouring the wine, she hands me a glass, and I take a fortifying glug. “I cannot believe I brought you to one music festival and you snagged a date with a member of the hottest band in country music!” Sending me a snarky side-eye, she snipes, “And you don’t even like country music! His talent is wasted on you!”
“I can’t disagree with that.” Hovering in the doorway between her living room and kitchen, I pop my hip out and lean onto the doorframe. “So, you know a lot about Outlaw?”
“Duh. They’re like country music royalty, Anna!”
“Who’s their lead singer?” I question, with a placid smile on my face.
“Ruston Hayes. He was named one ofCountry Music Magazine’smost beautiful people last year, and goodness gracious, he is good-looking!” As she drones on about how attractive and talented Hayes is, I shoot her a look of exasperation, and I watch her face as sheslowly puts it together. Her eyes grow as big as saucers, and she trails off before shrieking shrilly, “Ruston Hayes… is Hayes. Are you telling me your one-night stand from last year was with Ruston Hayes?”
I nod.
“Oh my God!” With glee, Laura giggles. “My best friend slept with Ruston Hayes! Three times!”
Draining the rest of my wine, I set the empty glass down on the kitchen counter and run my fingers through my hair, gathering it into a loose ponytail. “Yeah, I slept with Ruston Hayes, the lead singer of Outlaw. He’s the man I’ve been secretly, andstupidly, pining for and fantasizing about for over a year.”
“Holy hell, Anna!” Laura’s hands fly up in the air. “Have you been living under a rock? How did you not recognize him at Tank’s last year?”
“Maybe because I was too busy dealing with the death of my husband to be reading magazines and following pop culture!”
Laura has the grace to look a little sheepish, but her reaction only lasts a few seconds before she circles her hand to prod me into continuing the story. “Keep talking, Anna.” She snags my empty glass and the wine bottle before leading me into the living room.
Quickly, I spill the tea. “Laura, I was stunned when Hayes walked in. My brain shut down.” I pause, reliving that moment as if it transpired in slow motion. “Then, to make matters even more chaotic, Kyle’s co-worker, Aiden, was also with them.”
“Oh. My. God.” She clasps her hand over her mouth. “Outlaw is repped by M&M Records! Holy crap, I didn’t put that together. Did Hayes know Kyle?”
“Yep, and now he knows I’m a widow with two kids.”
While Laura settles onto the couch, I drift over to stand by the large bay window, staring aimlessly out the darkened windows overlookingLaura’s front porch. The same porch where only minutes ago I stood with Hayes. It’s all so crazy, and I can’t quite grasp the reality of the situation.
“How’d you leave things with Hayes?”
“Up in the air.” I shrug. “I think he’s still attracted to me—”
“It certainly looked that way when I opened the front door!” Laura gnaws on her upper lip, and I can tell she has some opinions that she wants to share.
“Spill, Laura. Lay it on me.”
“Okay, okay. First, I’m glad you saw Hayes again.”
