Music blasted out of the stereo the second Ralphie started the car. The lyrics hit me right in the face, and I rounded my eyes and looked at my driver.

He snickered and shook his head before singing, “Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin’ world go ‘round.”

I laughed in spite of my surprise, and he grinned at me.

“I know it’s old school, but I love Queen.”

“Queen,” I murmured. “I thought I recognized ‘em.”

“I’m guessing you don’t listen to this kind of music much.”

I liked the sound of his voice. It was smooth and creamy, like melted chocolate on a hot fudge sundae.

With a short shake of my head, I looked out the window and admitted what a good country girl I was. “Like I said before, I’m a sucker for a country tune.”

“Who are your favorites?”

“Um, Thomas Rhett, Brett Eldredge, Love and Theft. You heard of any of ‘em?”

He winced and shook his head. “I’ll look ‘em up on Spotify.”

“Okay.” I smiled, but the expression soon dropped away as we reached the top of the driveway and I spotted the mansion. “You live here?”

“We all do. Even Jace is thinking about moving in.” He lifted his chin at the large white structure. “Flick and I live in the main house, but Ness and Jimmy are down in the guest house together.”

My eyes bulged. “Together? As in, like they’re living together?”

“Uh-huh.” Ralphie nodded, his jaw clenching tight for a second.

“But, they’re not…married.”

He laughed and shot a glance at me. “They’re in love though.” He shook his head. “They are most definitely in love.”

I leaned my head back against the headrest and thought about my sister. She and Jimmy seemed to have great chemistry on stage. I’d always suspected they had a thing for each other, but living together? Mama would flip a switch. She always made sex outside of marriage seem like a cardinal sin.

I glanced at Ralphie and decided to keep that thought to myself. I didn’t want to be giving away just how naive I was. He’d probably slept with plenty of girls. I swallowed, the thought tasting sour in my mouth. I was determined not to be like that. My virginity was still very much intact, and I wasn’t giving it away to just anybody. I’d kissed a few boys in high school, but I’d never let any of them get frisky. When I made love for the first time, it was going to be with the right man.

I nodded, my mind made up. I was hoping the reminder of my resolve would still the racing inside of me, but every time I stole a glance at Ralphie’s profile, my stomach would jump with jitters and little electric currents would fly straight down between my legs. I’d never felt anything like it before, and it was kind of unnerving.

Ralphie pulled his wagon behind the house and I spotted the small guesthouse at the back of the property. It was cute and I could picture Vanessa and Jimmy walking down the path hand in hand, turning in for the night.

The good part of me was glad she’d found happiness, but the bitter part of me spiked with a righteous anger that told my heart she had no right to be so. She’d abandoned our family for a life of fame and riches. I’d needed her, and she hadn’t been there.

My eyes scorched with tears that I rapidly blinked away. With a sniff, I shouldered my door open and jumped down. I reached in for my bag, but Ralphie stopped me.

“Let me get that.” He leaned past me and pulled the bag free.

He smelled good. I closed my eyes and quickly breathed him in before forcing myself to step away.

I followed him in the back door and walked down a dim corridor until we reached a vast, open space filled with light. My breath hitched as I soaked it in, the living area with the monster TV and the flashy kitchen with its granite bench tops and snazzy equipment.

An acoustic guitar rested against the edge of the couch and three large beanbags sat in front of a tangle of wires and game controllers. I glanced up the wide stairwell and stepped into the lounge to look up at the mezzanine floor above.

“All the bedrooms are up there.” Ralphie pointed up the stairs then turned and pointed at the double doors off the lounge. “Formal dining room’s in there, but we never use it, and there’s a gym in the garage and a den area which Flick turned into his sacred little library.” Ralphie snickered and shrugged. “The guy likes to read.”

I nodded. “Me too.”

Ralphie’s gray eyes sparkled and he stared at me for a second before snapping his gaze to the kitchen. “Do you want a drink or something? We’ve got beer, soda, juice.”

“Oh, um…a Coke?”

“Sure.” He chuckled and pulled open the fridge. “Ness loves Coke too.” He whipped out a bottle and popped the cap for me.

I took it from his large hand and swigged the cool drink. It felt so good running down my parched throat, I let out a blissful moan.

“That’s good.” I raised the glass bottle. “Always tastes better out of the bottle, I say.”

“Agreed.” Ralphie grinned, pulling out a bottle of beer and uncapping it. He swigged back the amber liquid then licked his lips.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty.” His eyes narrowed then he looked down at the brew in his hand. His lips pulled into a smile while his head tipped to the side. His eyebrows rose before taking another illegal drink from his bottle. I didn’t say anything more; this wasn’t my house, and he could do what he liked in his. I’d never tasted alcohol before. I didn’t even know if I wanted to when I turned twenty-one.

“Want to try?” Ralphie held out the bottle.

“I…uh…” I swallowed, not really knowing what to say. My head started shaking before I could speak.

“Okay.” He shrugged. “Well, if you change your mind.”

“Thanks.” I took a sip of my Coke then gripped the bottle, pressing it against my chest and trying to decide what to do with myself. I was too nervous to sit. I kind of wanted to pace, but didn’t want to come off like a complete mental case.

I glanced around the room then checked my watch. “What time do you think she’ll be home?”

“I don’t know for sure.” Ralphie pulled out his phone and lit up the screen. “I think they were going on a date, so it could be a while.”

My face bunched with a frown.

“I can text her if you want me to.”

“No!” I raised my hand. “If she finds out I’m here waiting for her, she might never come back.”

Ralphie grinned. “Nervous, huh?”

“I haven’t seen her in a long time.” My voice wobbled, so I stopped talking.

“Why don’t you come sit down. The time's not going to go any faster standing around. Come on.” He tipped his head toward the beanbags. “Let’s play a few games.”

“Games?”

He laughed. “Computer games. You never played?”

I shook my head. Computers were for learning, that’s what Mama always said.

“Oh, man! That’s…that’s so sad.” He rushed toward me and took my arm, gently pulling me into the living area. I glanced out the glass doors at the vast backyard and the guesthouse behind it. Ralphie pushed me down into a beanbag. My legs popped up as I fell into it. I righted myself and tried to get comfy while he fluffed around with remote controls.

A couple of minutes later, I had a plastic controller in my hand and was staring at the screen saying, “Okay, what do I do?”

He leaned toward me, explaining the rules of some fightin’ game. I tested out a few moves and laughed as my character jumped in the air and kicked out with her leg. She then did a few swift punches under my command. I laughed again.

“That’s good. You ready to fight?”

“Uh…”

“Awesome, let’s go.” Ralphie pressed a button and the two characters were transported into an amphitheater made from mossy-looking stones and rocks with a solid dirt floor for the characters to fight in. It looked pretty realistic considering it was all digital. I clutched my controller, my fingers stiff and awkward as I tried to compete. Ralphie kept leaning over to help me out. Every time he did, I got a whiff of his aftershave or felt the soft caress of his breath on my skin. It made it hard to concentrate.

I lost the first round, my character out for the count after only thirty seconds. I lasted a little longer for the next few rounds, and I’m pretty sure Ralphie let me win the last one. Even so, I punched my hand into the air and let out a victory shout.

“Oh, yeah! I won!”

“You did.” He winked at me, and my heart twirled inside my chest.

I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and swallowed. Why was it suddenly so hot in here?

His hand landed on my shoulder and he gave it a squeeze. “You did good. We’ll make a gamer out of you yet.”

His fingers were so long and sure, his grip firm and comforting somehow. I was just melting into it when the front door clicked open and I heard a voice that was so familiar, it was like I’d been speaking to her the day before.

“You are so bad.” She laughed.

My head whipped in the direction of the kitchen and then she appeared. Jimmy was next to her, his arm around her shoulders, his lips against her forehead.

They stopped short the second they saw me. Jimmy’s forehead wrinkled with an angry frown, his glare going from me to Ralphie. I could see him thinking, Who the hell is she?

But he didn’t have to wonder for long because my sister’s brown eyes rounded and then her head started shaking. “Oh, hell no,” she muttered, glaring at me like I was the Devil himself.