My Lucky Days: A Novel (12 page)

I cared about her. Very much. Her friendship meant everything to me. Even though Skylar was the more stable of my roommates, I had always been closer to Peyton. She included me in her life and her family when she didn’t have to. And I would have to break the news about Christmas. This would be the first time in four years that I didn’t spend it in Bedford with her.

“Hey.” I sat down in a chair.

“So where did you go with him?” I was right. Peyton had about three drinks in an hour based on the slight pitch to her voice and the fact that she rested her head against my shoulder.

“Just for a walk. You okay?”

“Yep.” She perked up, pointing across the room. “See that guy over there?”

“Yeah . . . that’s Clark.”

She tossed me a wicked grin. “I know.”

My eyes got big at her implication.
What did she do?

Dylan stood up, interrupting us. “You girls want another round?”

“Get me one of these.” Peyton shook her glass in the air and laughed. “It tastes like candy. Sexy candy. Or sex candy. Is that a thing?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Lucky hadn’t even played yet. If Dylan kept giving drinks to my roommate, there would be vomit all over his pretty leather seats on the way home. But I didn’t say anything as he disappeared in the direction of the bar.

Turning my attention back to Peyton, I asked, “What did you do with Clark?”

“Nothing yet. But look at him. He’s like the biggest guy I’ve ever seen in person. And you know what that means.”

“
Peyton.
That’s Lucky’s friend.”

She winked. “Told you I wanted one of them too.
And
he’s a drummer. Did you see those hands? He could totally pull off monkey style.”

What the crap? I didn’t want to know. Shaking my head, I let the conversation end on that note.

The opening act took the stage in black leather pants and a red shirt that plunged deep and showed off the lace outline of her black bra. She played a few notes before introducing herself as Sasha Love. I wondered if that was a stage name. Her songs were filled with deep passion as she played the piano and emptied her heartache into the microphone. Some guy must have crushed her pretty bad.

After a brief intermission, Lucky came on stage. He looked over in our direction and smiled. A set guy brought out another guitar, placing it on the stand next to a stool.

After getting situated, he leaned up to the mic. “Thank y’all for having me tonight. I’m Landon Evans. Anyone out there ever get mad enough to burn some shit down?”

A few
hell yeahs
came from the audience, making Lucky grin. “Well, this one’s for you. It’s called
Burning Confession.
”

His fingers moved in a slow rhythm as the haunting notes spilled out into the room. Lucky sang the words with his eyes closed. I was mesmerized. Captivated by the music. Captivated by the man.

She said her heart didn’t love me anymore,

And her body belonged to him.

As she spoke those cryptic words,

The fire started brewin’ deep within.

I couldn’t sit there in our house,

Listenin’ to her lies and fake tears.

They were little sparks ignitin’ the flames,

That burned right through my ears.

But her words were like embers,

Burnin’ holes inside my broken heart.

So I drove away in my truck,

Before the fire could tear me apart.

I drove fast and hard.

As I felt myself losin’ my mind,

Losin’ to the flames.

’Cause all I kept hearin’,

Were her lips,

Sayin’ his name.

With her burning confession.

I took a step back from his porch,

As the match caught the flame.

The wood burned hot,

And I gave her all the blame.

Whether it was right or wrong,

I knew it wasn’t for nothin’.

With a grim smile, I felt no remorse,

’Cause he had it comin’.

I drove away fast and hard,

Losin’ my mind to the flames.

And I knew after tonight,

None of us would ever be the same.

But I kept on drivin’,

As the boards came crashin’ down.

They tore through every memory,

And burned them to the ground.

And when they took me away,

The cuffs cut deep.

But I knew nothin’ else would ever hurt the same.

As hearin’ her burnin’ confession.

As the song came to a close, his eyes opened and the smile came slowly. Everyone clapped and then he lit into a fast song and stood up from the stool, moving around the stage.

“Shake that ass, cowboy!” Peyton screamed next to me, sloshing her glass of Sexy Candy on the table. I covered my face in embarrassment.

The fast song ended, and Lucky took a seat back on the stool. “I haven’t played this one in public before.”

The soft notes came through the speakers. Lucky glanced over at me and grinned. My heart started beating fast. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t do this, and then he did.

If the days feel lonely and the nights get tough,

Just know that I’m thinkin’ of you,

Even when I’m gone,

And the days get rough.

I’ll come back to you,

A promise I will always keep.

So close your eyes,

And think of me as you fall asleep.

’Cause nothin’ has ever felt this right.

Good night, my darlin’. Good night.

Our eyes met several times as each word came out in his deep voice. He stopped playing when he reached the last verse and sang without the guitar.

And as my head touches the pillow,

Sometimes I have to remember,

Tonight’s not the end. Tomorrow will come.

And it starts all over again.

I’ll never stop tryin’, until your heart is mine.

’Cause nothin’ has ever felt this right.

Good night, my Katie. Good night.

I swallowed hard. Lucky winked at me and started playing the next one.

“Shit,” I whispered. This suddenly felt very real. Like publicly real. Very different than on the phone at two in the morning. I was wrong. Two a.m. was fantasy land, and
this
was the real world.

“Here.” Skylar took Peyton’s drink from her and stuck it in my hand. “Throw it back. All at once. You look like you just saw a ghost.”

I swallowed most of the glass, feeling the burn all the way to the pit of my stomach. Sexy Candy tasted like pink rubbing alcohol. I took in a few breaths and looked back up at the stage. Thankfully, Lucky was focused on the other side of the room.

“Was that the first time you’ve heard that song?” Skylar put an arm around my shoulders.

“No,” I whispered. “He’s sings it to me on the phone.”

“Ah. So that’s what you two do in there all night.” She smiled. “It’s a really good song.”

“It’s about me.”

“Yeah, I figured that part out.” She laughed.

I felt the alcohol as it rolled into my system. It was okay. I felt okay. “I didn’t know it at first. I thought he was just sending lyrics from one of his songs. Then I realized it was for me. And it made me feel—I don’t know. It was different when it was like some secret between us. I didn’t think he would actually perform it live.”

We watched the next couple of songs with her arm still around me. Lucky switched to his other guitar and spoke into the mic. “Did y’all like Sasha?”

Everyone clapped. Some guy whistled in the back. “Well, she’s coming back out, and my drummer from my band in Nashville is here. But he’s got this little man complex and will only take the stage if there’s a standing ovation.”

I heard Clark yell something I couldn’t understand as he climbed the steps. The giant of a man jumped behind the drums, which seemed like a toy set once he sat down.

“He’s like a sexy lumberjack.” Peyton didn’t even bother to whisper. “Don’t you think?”

I nodded as my head spun a little. That drink was stronger than I thought—and Peyton had drunk five. No wonder she thought Clark was a lumberjack.

Sasha got back behind the piano. A loud mix of notes came through the speakers as Lucky warmed up on the electric guitar. “So when I play here, I usually do a few throwback covers. So let’s kick it off with a little Lynyrd Skynyrd
.
”

Lucky’s fingers moved rapidly, and then Clark joined in on the drums with Sasha on the piano. They blended together so effortlessly, like they had done this a hundred times before tonight.

As they headed into the chorus of
Gimme Three Steps
, he looked out into the crowd. “Come on, y’all. You know the words.”

I looked out across the audience. They were singing along with him. Lucky launched into a long guitar solo in the middle and then turned it over to Sasha who seemed much happier than when she played her own set.

They followed it with
Free Bird
. His fingers moved on the guitar so fast, so amazing, so beautiful. This side of Lucky was incredible.

Something bubbled up inside me. It was different watching him after having just spent the hour before with the normal guy in the Center of the Universe. But, now he was on stage as this talented guitarist who made the room come alive with his music. He was both of them. He was Landon Evans. He was my Lucky.

As the feeling consumed my thoughts, I closed my eyes for a second. He
was
my Lucky. I was falling for him. More and more each time we talked. And tonight, I literally felt it with every note he played. I was falling for him.

I opened my eyes, staring at the stage. I might be okay with that idea.

The song ended, and he grabbed a bottle of water and tipped it back. Sitting down on the stool, he flashed the grin that would no doubt make him famous one day. A couple of ladies on the other side of the room squealed and he winked at them. “I got one more for you.”

He switched to one of his own songs. It was slow. The pace had a slight swing to it. His voice came out low and sexy. Lucky looked back over at me. I blushed as he smiled. The attraction grabbed me as the giddiness rolled around inside me. I felt like we were talking in some secret code. He was playing just for me, and I was the only one watching.

His words. His voice. It was just like all those nights on the phone.

Except he was physically in front of me. His shirt clung to his chest, covered in sweat. His lips brushed the mic several times as his heart poured out into his words. The more I watched his mouth, the more I wanted to kiss him. My tongue ran absently over my bottom lip. He winked at me, which made me blush.

His voice was everywhere, vibrating from the speakers. Low. Deep. The sway of the song, the constant beat of the drums.

All of the intense pieces were mixing together in the sexy darkness of the bar. It was getting hot in here. My fingers gripped my thighs as he caught my gaze again and grinned.

“Are you two eye-fucking right now?” Peyton whispered in my ear.

The heat flushed my cheeks as I glanced over at her. Maybe I was attracted to Landon Evans just as much as Lucky.

T
he red dirt billowed out from behind the truck as we flew down the road. He grinned at me a few times before reaching across the seat and taking my hand. “Have you ever been this far out of town?”

“No.”

“It’s better in the spring. All green.”

I leaned back against the seat taking in the scene. I was still tired from last night—one of many long nights in a string of long nights over the last couple of weeks.

Letting go of my fingers, Lucky shifted gears as we turned into a gravel driveway. I peered out the window, seeing a house with a little round tower on one end that reminded me of a castle. Lucky parked the truck in the circle driveway and pointed up toward the roof. “That right there on the end is Mia’s princess room.”

“Because every little girl needs a princess room?”

“Exactly.” He laughed.

I surveyed the outside of his brother’s home. Colt must be pretty successful with his company because this house was gorgeous. I followed Lucky around the scattered toys across the lawn.

The walkway by the patio had
M
IA
and Z
ACH
permanently etched into the ground. The sight made my heart flutter as the nostalgia swept through me. Those kids would step over those words a thousand times. And those names would still be in that exact same spot when they packed their cars for college.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Shaking my head, I quickly caught up with Lucky and he put his arm around my waist. We walked around the pool that was covered with the winter tarp. He stopped in front of the building on the other side. I burst out laughing, seeing the door to his “pool house.”

“What’s so funny?”

“Well. I’d imagined you living on a cot next to inflatable rafts and a giant rubber ducky.”

“A rubber ducky?” He opened the door, letting me go in before him.

“How was I to know your brother’s idea of a pool house was something from
MTV Cribs
?”