I ride with Ivy up to Nashville along with her friend Bella. The rest of the girls drove up yesterday because they wanted to start the morning off with a spa day. But the three of us had to work yesterday so we couldn’t join in on the festivities which was fine with me because I did not want to waste money on the spa right now.

Bella is super nice. A bit quiet but overall a nice girl. She grew up in White Creek like most everyone else here and met Ivy through Summer.

I spend the two-hour drive quietly while the two of them talk. The drive brings me back to a little over a month ago when I was driving down the same highway. Running. That’s what Easton called it. Maybe he was right. I pretty much hightailed it out of Chicago once my lawyer said I could. I couldn’t afford an apartment there and since my friends turned their backs on me because I was no longer an asset to their social status, I had nowhere else to go.

It’s crazy how your entire life can change in a couple months. To think only two months ago I was hanging out with my girls at the hottest clubs with bottle service. Looking back I realize how ridiculous it was. The few nights me and Ivy have hung out drinking wine have felt more real than those nights ever did. Maybe that’s why I am nervous about tonight. This isn't going to be a sit on your couch in pajamas and get wasted slumber party night. This is a night on the town and I hope to god it’s different than those nights in Chicago.

“Are you excited?”

I realize Bella is talking to me and I blink away the sunlight shining in my eyes and turn toward the front of the truck. I can see the skyline of Nashville approaching and I’m a little shocked I spent that long stuck in my damn head. “Yeah. I am. I’ve never been here before.”

She gets giddy and starts clapping her hands, “Oh my god we have to take her to Tootsie’s!”

“I’m pretty sure Summer is going to want to go to Tootsie’s. She drags us every time.” Ivy chimes in. “And if she’s drunk enough she will want us to go again because she’ll have forgotten we already went.”

Bella chuckles and says, “Once she’s drunk we can just keep asking her if she wants to go and then see how many times she tries to take us back.”

“The sad thing is that would probably be true,” Ivy says while merging onto the off-ramp.

I think they forgot I was in the back seat. “What’s Tootsie’s?”

They both look at each other like I just asked what color the sky was. Bella replies, “Only the best live music bar in Nashville!”

I nod and turn back toward the window. Bella turns toward Ivy. “Is Tacoma coming?”

My head snaps back toward Bella. There has to be some weird odd coincidence that they have a friend with the same rare name as Easton’s sister.

“I think she flew in from New York yesterday. There is no way she would miss this. You know Summer is like the older sister she never had.”

I guess that means there is no coincidence. I feel like it will be awkward meeting Easton’s sister especially since Ivy will no doubt open her mouth about him and me at some point.

I look up and see her looking at me in the rearview. “Don’t worry Harper. Tacoma will like you. I bet she’ll be agree that you should bone her brother.”

“Uh, I don’t think she is going to tell Harper to bone her brother.” Bella cuts in.

Ivy retorts, “Ten bucks it’ll happen.”

I scoff and turn back toward the window.

We pull up to the valet at a nice hotel right off Broadway and grab our bags out of the back. As we walk into the hotel, I hear a loud squeal. I turn my gaze to the source of the noise and see a voluptuous blonde with curlers in her hair and the tiniest shorts I have ever seen skip over to us. She gives a huge hug to Ivy and reaches for Bella to wrap them up into a three person hug.

“I am so excited for tonight! I can’t believe it is finally here! Of course, that means that I’m getting married in less than two months. Oh god, I think I need to do this every weekend until then.” The blonde, who I figured was Summer continues to rattle on and on and then stops abruptly to look at me. “Oh my! I am so rude I cannot believe I did not introduce myself. I got so caught up in the excitement. I’m Summer. You must be Harper. It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

Before I can say the same, she throws her arms around me in a tight hug. She pulls back and continues, “I cannot believe I have not made it into town to meet my best friend's new best friend. I have just been so busy with wedding planning. Oh and don’t feel bad about stealing my best friend she’s needed one ever since I moved outta White Creek. Oh gosh, now I’m talking too much. Sorry sugar I am just so excited!”

Ivy shoves her in the arm. “You moved a whole forty-five minutes away to a farm. It’s not like you moved across the country. I still see you every week.”

“It’s fine,” I say to Summer. “Thanks for having me. I’ve never been to Nashville before so this should be fun. And I can’t wait to help you celebrate!” I am so glad I had years of faking smiles and involving myself in conversations I didn’t really want to have. Summer seems like a fun girl, but I am having so much trouble shaking the feeling of sadness I felt on the way up.

“So I booked us two suites, but all of us are hanging out in mine right now while we get ready,” Summer says while leading us into an elevator.

“Did you decide on a place for dinner?” Ivy asks. “’Cause you know I booked two reservations at two separate places in case you changed your mind at the last minute.”

Summer throws her hand to her chest with an ‘I would never’ expression on her face. Ivy laughs and replies, “So I guess y’all decided to go somewhere I didn’t book?”

“Actually no, I put my foot down and said we’re going to the first place you booked. It’s super nice and I thought we could use some class before we get rowdy.”

Bella starts cracking up. “You mean before you drink way too much and start flirting with every man in cowboy boots on the street.”

I try to hold in a laugh since I don’t know Summer at all but the smile that flits across her face makes me think she knows that is exactly what will happen.

We enter Summer’s suite and there are six girls inside giggling and drinking wine.

“Hey y’all!” Summer shouts. “The rest of the party has arrived so let’s get this party started!”

One of the girls in the room whoops, jumps to her feet and heads to the small refrigerator in the room to pull out a tray of mini cups.

“Are those Jell-O shots?” I ask.

Another girl whose body is nearly identical to Summer’s stands up and says, “You betcha. When we were in high school, we used to challenge who could drink the most without passing out.”

“And you were usually the one puking all over everyone,” Bella chimes in.

Ivy shakes her head. “I am so glad I am older than you three and missed out on all that fun.”

Summer’s look-a-like, who I’m guessing is her sister, snorts. “You might have been older than us three, but you were still at Brett’s parties. Oh wait, you were so busy sneaking away from the rest of us and fucking Trace that you never partook in the challenges.”

Ivy picks up a pillow off one of the couches and throws it at the girl. “Shut up Laney you have no idea what me and Trace were doing. You were too young to know.”

Laney rolls her eyes. “You know they teach sex ed in like seventh grade.”

One of the other girls who I think I’d seen once or twice in the diner answers, “You two weren’t exactly quiet. Everyone knew what you two were up too.”

Ivy’s face contorts into shock. “Wait, y’all really heard us having sex and no one ever told me?”

Summer smiles a huge smile that takes up half her face. “We were too busy betting on who would come first or be louder.” Ivy’s face turns bright red. Summer tries to calm her by saying, “We knew you and Trace were for keeps so it’s not like y’all would stop. Besides, it was funny.”

“Alright, alright enough embarrassing poor Ivy,” Jell-O shot girl says. She hands a shot to everyone and holds hers above her head, “To Summer. On her wedding night, may she be as loud as Trace and Ivy.”

The entire room bursts into a cackling mess, including myself. I take my shot with the rest of the ladies and then grab Ivy giving her a small squeeze. She looks at me and shrugs then grabs her phone and starts texting furiously.

Summer yells for everyone to be quiet. “Alright y’all so Ivy brought the newest member of our crew here and the newest resident of White Creek, aka my replacement. This is Harper.”

I wave hi as Summer introduces them. Her sister, Laney. The brunette I had seen at the diner, Grace. Her cousin with a gorgeous head of red curls, Charlotte. Two other brunettes that went to school with her, Casey and Taylor. And the pretty blonde in the corner with familiar green eyes, Tacoma.

Grace walks up to me. “I am so sorry I never introduced myself at the diner. I always seem to pop in when you are so busy. But I am glad to finally meet you and that you came out.”

“Thanks. I knew you looked familiar.”

“Aren’t you the outta-towner that got super drunk in Sawyer’s like a month ago?” the girl named Taylor asks me.

My cheeks flush and just as I am about to answer Charlotte cuts in, “You mean the night you were super wasted and jealous of the pretty new girl and how she was gonna steal every man’s heart?”

My cheeks get even brighter as I feel the heat rise up my neck. “That would be me, unfortunately.”

Ivy shoves her phone into her pocket and retorts, “Y’all get just as drunk as she did that night, actually most nights I see you. So who cares? I’m sure Summer’s gonna be like that tonight.”

“You can count on it!” she shouts as she sits on a couch grabbing a glass of wine.

Ivy whispers to me, “Don’t worry about Taylor. She got dumped by her boyfriend like a week before you showed up and she’s jealous of pretty much everyone now who’s got a man talkin’ to them.”

I nod and force a smile to my face. I sit on one of the couches and pour a glass of wine. Ivy plops down next to me and throws her feet up onto the table. We talk about girly things for a while. It helps lift the sadness I’ve been feeling and opens me up enough to join in on the small talk.

Soon enough Charlotte asks me, “So what’s your story? How did you end up in White Creek?”

I sigh and push my hair behind my ears. “Want the short version or the long?”

“That bad huh,” Charlotte answers.

I shrug. I am about to speak when Ivy answers for me.

“Well, our lovely, beautiful Harper here is an East coaster transported to Chicago via her ex-college football superstar husband who turned out to be a douche who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, cheated on her twice—”

“Three times,” I interrupt.

Ivy looks at me and I nod for her to continue. It’s easier to listen to when she says it. “Three times! Then decided to divorce her and take all her money so she was moving to Florida and then her car broke down in White Creek and now she’s my new best friend and interior designer.”

Everyone just stares at Ivy like she just told them the world was gonna end. Tacoma gets up and grabs a bottle of whiskey. “Wine ain’t strong enough for that shitstorm.”

She pours shots for us and pats me on the shoulder. “That really sucks Harper. I woulda ripped his balls off.”

“That’s what I said!” Ivy shouts and the ladies all laugh.

“So, you do interior design?” Summer asks me.

I give a death glare to Ivy for bringing up her interior design plans. “It’s what I went to college for. I haven’t done much outside of college, but it is something I like to do.”

“Oh my god! You should help with my house!” Summer squeals. “Brett, my fiancé, bought some new farmland and we moved into the old farmhouse on the property. It’s in great shape but it’s in desperate need of a design update. It looks like it’s straight outta the seventies.”

Ivy nudges me with her shoulder. “See I told you people would need you.”

Grace chimes in, “Are you gonna update the diner?”

I nod. “We talked about it the other day. We haven’t decided on what to do yet, but yes.”

“Thank god,” Casey says. “That place needed an update years ago.”

Everyone agrees and Ivy’s face scrunches in frustration. “Geez y’all. I am sittin’ right here. You don’t need to tell me it looks that bad.”

I laugh and grab her shoulders. “Hey, it’s not terrible but a few changes will give it a whole new look.”

“So, does that mean you’re gonna stay in White Creek permanently?” Taylor asks.

“Well, I actually really like it in White Creek. It’s peaceful. So who knows what will happen but I am thinking of staying for now. Not permanently but for awhile.”

Ivy looks over at me slack-jawed. “When did you decide this?”

“Just now I guess.” I wasn’t going to tell her it had anything to do with Easton because I didn’t even know if it did but the fact I now had money to fix my car and was still thinking of staying was something I did not want to bring up. There was a small little flutter in my stomach that told me it did have to do with him but that was a secret I was gonna keep sealed behind my pink pout. I stretch my arms above my head and get up to grab more wine.

Laney breaks the silence. “We should get ready since our dinner reservation is in an hour.”

A few of the girls get up and grab curling irons and makeup out of their bags.

Ivy jumps off the couch and screams, “Not so fast, sweet cheeks.” I wince because I can tell by her sarcastic tone she called me Easton’s nickname for me on purpose.

“You just decided that it would be a good idea to stay in White Creek. No reason in particular?”

I know she’s going to call my bluff but I try to feed her a lie anyway. “I like you. A lot. I haven’t really ever had a friend like you since probably middle school. And just the last hour or so with these ladies has really made me think.” Okay, so that wasn’t a lie. That was really how I felt.

“Aww sugar. That’s so sweet of ya. I like you a lot too.” She pauses, clasping her hands together in front of her. “But that’s the biggest load of horseshit I think ever came out of your mouth. Ya sure that maybe a small teensy little part of why you wanna stay has got nothing to do with a certain mechanic with dreamy green eyes?”

Tacoma’s eyes shoot over to mine and I turn away thankful there is a bottle of wine in front of me. I grab the corkscrew and try to get the cork out, but it’s one of those server ones that require strength and I break the cork off as I try to open it.

“What about my brother?” Tacoma stalks over to me in a fashion that looks very similar to someone else I know.

I struggle with words as I try to get the cork unstuck. “You know...I…he’s uh.”

“Oh my god! Are you boning my brother?” she asks while putting her hand over my struggling one holding the corkscrew.

Ivy shouts over everyone who has started to whisper amongst themselves, “I told you, Bella! She totally said bone! Pay up!”

Bella rolls her eyes. “In a completely different context. I said she wasn’t going to tell Harper to bone him.”

“Semantics.” Ivy throws her hands up in the air and walks over to her overnight bag.

Tacoma has kept her stare steady on me the whole time as Ivy rejoiced in her win over Bella.

I finally find the courage to spit out an entire sentence. “I-uh…he’s fixing my car.”

“More like he wants to get under her hood,” Ivy mutters loud enough for everyone to hear as she plugs in a curling iron. Laughter spreads across the group.

Tacoma flips her off and then pulls the wine bottle out of my hand, successfully rips the cork out, then proceeds to chug wine directly from the bottle. I like her.

“So, you aren’t sleeping with him?” she asks, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

I shake my head.

“But you want to?”

What the hell am I supposed to say to that? If it was Ivy, I would say yes.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes.” She turns to Ivy asking, “Does that mean he finally broke up with that fucking bitch whore, Quinn?”

Ivy scrunches her forehead. “Two months ago. When was the last time you talked to him?”

“Shit.” She runs her hands down her face. “I didn’t realize it had been that long. God. I am an awful sister.”

Now I start to feel awkward. I know Easton loves his sisters. If he hasn’t talked to Tacoma in two months, then how is he gonna feel when he finds out I saw her. Well if he decides to talk to me again. I still haven’t heard from him. We ended on such a good note on Tuesday. If Ivy was right about him going to see his sister, I hope it’s nothing bad. That’s the only reason I can see for him not texting me back.

Tacoma’s voice shakes me out of my thoughts. “So does he like you?”

Ivy jumps in, “He’s been flirting with her since day one. And they seem to be hanging out an awful lot. Especially because they are practically neighbors. And he’s letting her borrow the green truck.”

The wine bottle Tacoma was holding slid out of her hand, crashing to the floor. Casey ran over with towels from the bathroom dropping them on the wine.

“He gave you the truck?” Tacoma’s voice is short, each word staccato.

I guess that truck was not just some truck that was left at the shop. Shit. How does this girl keep asking me questions that are hard to answer. “I…he’s just letting me borrow it until my car is fixed.”

“Un-fucking-believable.” Tacoma storms out of the room.

I stand bewildered looking at the door. Everyone else is silent. “Ummm so does anyone want to tell me what that was about?”

Casey, Taylor, and Charlotte high tail into the bathroom. Laney pulls Bella into another room with Grace following close behind. I raise my eyebrows at Summer and Ivy waiting for an explanation.

“Well—”

“I sh—”

They both start at the same time. I cross my arms and tap my foot.

Summer looks at Ivy and nods telling her to speak.

Ivy’s hand rubs the back of her neck as she looks at the ground. “That truck belonged to their dad. Easton got it for his sixteenth birthday. He took so much pride in that truck. He fixed it up over the years and got it running to how his dad had it when he first got it.”

She sits down on the edge of the couch, a somber look taking over her face. Summer walks up and runs her hand down her back. “Their dad was driving the truck the night of the accident. Tacoma wanted it. But Easton wouldn’t give it up. He fixed it back up. It was his way to keep the memory of his parents alive. Whenever Tacoma is in town, she tries to take it. He never lets her.”

I am stunned. Absolutely stunned. I cannot believe he gave me the truck that meant so much to him and caused so much pain. A tear rolls down my cheek.

Ivy gets up and wraps her arms around me. “It’s okay sweetie. It’s been nine years and Tacoma has always hung that truck over Easton’s head. When I saw you driving it. I knew. I just knew how he feels.”

“What do you mean?” I murmur into her hair.

“Well for one it means he likes you. I’ll let you figure out the rest on your own.”

Summer must have walked up to us as she rests her hand on my back. “It’s alright sweetie. And I hate to be the one to break up this feelings fest but it’s my bachelorette party and I kinda wanna have some fun.”

Ivy peels herself off me and agrees with Summer. The other ladies miraculously reappear in the living area of the suite. Laney leaves to go talk to Tacoma.

We spend the next hour getting ready to go out. I surprised Ivy and brought a few of my designer dresses I kept. She forces me to wear my favorite, the champagne sequined one. Ivy wears a skin-tight royal blue one that fits her like a glove. I don’t know how I ever wore it considering my boobs are a few sizes larger than hers. Surprisingly Tacoma asks if she can wear the dark purple one. I didn’t think she was going to talk to me the rest of the night, but she seems to have gotten over the whole truck incident. She looks dynamite in it. It’s a super short fit and flare style dress. Her body has a similar shape to mine so we don’t need to pin the bust at all, but she has beautiful legs that will cause jaws to drop. She pairs the dress with a pair of chunky, grommeted platforms and a matching belt.

The rest of the girls look just as hot as we do. And Summer’s golden tan skin allows her to pull off the slinky white number she’s wearing.

Just as we are about to leave Charlotte hands her a tiara and a sash that says “Bachelorette” and then we head out the door.

We eat dinner at a super nice Italian restaurant because as Summer put it, “she wants to load up on as many carbs as she can get so she can drink more.”

We all had a mutual agreement to not drink during dinner. I ate a delicious chicken pesto and so much bread that I was starting to rethink the dress I had on. Once we finished our meal, we agreed to order a couple of bottles of wine before heading out on the town since it was getting to the time where lines were forming at the bars and clubs.

“Oh my god, you guys,” Ivy shrieks holding her phone in her hand. We all look at her waiting for her to continue but she types madly on her phone. “Trace knew the whole time y’all could hear us having sex in the back acres. He said that’s why he always brought me in the trees instead of going to the back house. He thought it was funny.”

We all burst out laughing as Ivy’s face flames in anger. She finds a waiter and orders a round of Fireball for the table. She calms down a bit after the shot, but I can tell she is still pissed at him, especially when she mumbles he is not getting laid for a week.

We end up going to Tootsie’s first. We’re even able to skip the line that was beginning to form thanks to Summer’s bachelorette gear. The place is packed. There are rows of tables against the right wall facing the stage that is in the front of the bar. I can see a backroom up and to the rear of the place. Grace manages to squeeze between two larger men in leather jackets to reach the bar. She orders us all cold beers and we pass them around. A band starts playing a few minutes later and there is a ton of hootin’ and hollerin’ going around the room. Everyone is having so much fun as I scan the overcrowded bar. I slam my beer and begin to loosen up again letting the drama from earlier fall away.

After a few songs one, of the singers climbs up on the bar and starts singing and dancing around. I thought this kind of thing only happened in the movies, but it seems to be real here. I don’t remember ever going out to a club in Chicago where the crowd was so lively and everyone was having fun. I didn’t see crying girls in the corner or guys fighting over something stupid. This was an honest to goodness good time. I order us another round of beers along with Fireball shots since apparently that’s what everyone drinks around here. I do have to admit, it tastes delicious.

We all do the shots and cheer for Summer. A few hot guys come up to her and offer her one last ride before she’s hitched, but she just laughs and pushes them away.

We decide to head to another bar after Tootsie’s. We hit up a couple over a two hour period and I can tell we’re all feeling a little tipsy. Laney screams out that we should go to karaoke. Almost everyone agrees except for Tacoma, but she gets dragged along anyway.

We find a karaoke bar off Broadway and sit at an empty table. Someone must have ordered more beers and shots because a server comes over and drops them at the table.

Summer leans into me. “Sing a song with me, honey.”

Tacoma scoffs. “She probably doesn’t know country, she’s from the city.”

Bella hits her on the head. “You’re being rude. You live in New York City. Did you forget about country and all the little people from this small town here?”

Tacoma glares at her and turns around in her seat to watch the horrible rendition of “Friends in Low Places” some drunk guy is singing. Does he even know the lyrics?

I turn toward Summer and say, “Let’s do a duet!”

She claps her hands and bounces up and down in her seat. “You know country?”

I put my hand to my chest. “Guilty.”

“Yay! Oh my god, I have the perfect song for us but I ain’t gonna tell you until we get up on stage because I want it to be a surprise for everyone.”

“Alright. I hope I know it.”

“Honey, if you listened to country radio in the last couple years you’ve probably heard it more times that you can count.”

Ivy gets on stage and sings “Your Cheatin’ Heart” pretty well. Grace and Charlotte both sing Reba songs. We make it through some more good renditions and a few bad ones and then me and Summer are called up on stage.

Summer looks at me with a smirk and I start to worry a bit about the song she chose. Then she hands me a shot. I can’t tell if it’s because she’s nervous or she’s worried I’m nervous. Once the first few notes of the song start, I laugh because this is the perfect song for her to choose. Especially since we just met. We cheers our glasses and down the shots. She takes on Miranda and I do Carrie and it might be the Fireball talking, but I feel like we knocked it out of the park as we sing the last few “oohh something bad.”

We are both giggling and jumping up and down when we get off the stage and all our friends are cheering for us. Even a bunch of other random people in the bar cheer. We high five each other and crash back into our seats still giggling.

“Just so y’all know I totally recorded that on my phone and I am sending it to Brett, so he knows how you really feel.” Ivy laughs as I see her sending the video out.

Summer and I talk a lot more after that. She’s so easy to get along with and I can’t wait to hang out with her more once we get back to White Creek. I even agreed to come over and look at her house to talk about design updates and decorating.

All of a sudden, I hear the DJ call out Tacoma’s name. She turns around and glares at the table trying to figure out who put her name in. She reluctantly walks up to the stage. I look around to see who could have done it and see Laney whispering to Casey with a smile on her face.

When Tacoma starts singing “Jolene” the entire place goes quiet and all eyes land on her. This song is super difficult to sing. No one can even try to take on Dolly Parton at a karaoke bar, but Tacoma has an incredible voice, captivating the entire crowd. Even the bartenders stop serving to watch. She gets a standing ovation when she finishes and slumps back to the table taking the seat next to mine.

“I know it was you Laney and I am so gonna kill you.”

Laney holds up defensive hands and then turns back to Casey giggling.

I look at Tacoma. “You were incredible. I’ve never heard a voice like that.”

“Thanks,” she mutters. “I hate being up on stage.”

“Why? You could be singing for a living!”

She shrugs. “I just don’t like the attention all that much.”

I look over at her and gesture at her outfit. She laughs. “Okay I like attention but not really on stage. I like singing but prefer to do it among friends only.”

“Well you had the attention of everyone and I bet there are gonna be a few guys coming up to you after that.”

“Good! Free drinks!”

I can’t help but laugh at that and remember how me and my friends dressed scantily in college to get free drinks.

Sure enough about two minutes later the server walks up to the table with a round of shots and nods toward some guys at the other end of the bar who are raising their glasses to us. We all take the shots and I hear Taylor swear and run off to the bathroom with Casey close behind her.

Tacoma leans over to me. “Hey, I am sorry about earlier. I was pissed off because that is just how I get about my brother. It has nothing to do with you.”

I nod. “I really had no idea about the truck. Ivy told me after you left.”

“Yeah, well he’s an asshole sometimes. But I’m over it,” she says and takes a sip of her beer.

“How did you get over it?”

“Well, one I texted him and called him a dick. And two you let me borrow this dress so I figure you can’t be that bad.” She grins at me.

I push her slightly and she almost falls off her chair, but I grab her just in time. I start laughing. “That’s what happened to me when I first got to White Creek. I was so drunk I fell off a bar stool.”

She laughs. “Don’t tell me my stupid brother treated you like a damsel.”

I shake my head. “Nah. Trace was my hero that night. Walked me all the way across the street back to the hotel I was staying at.”

“Trace is always the hero.” She leans an elbow on the table and rests her chin in her palm. “So you really like my brother?”

Another loaded question. “I don’t really know much about him. We’ve hung out a few times and I guess I like spending time with him.”

“You can treat him like a dick as much as you want. Then blame me.” She looks around the bar and then sighs. “He must really like you if he let you drive the truck. Part of the reason I was so mad about the thing was because he would never let me or Raelynn in it. It was like he wanted to keep that memory for himself and it pissed me off.”

I grab her hand. “Well if you are ever in White Creek and I’m still driving it, I’ll let you go for a ride.”

She thanks me and we spend a few more minutes talking before Summer decides she wants to go somewhere else. Bella mouths Tootsie’s at me and I shake my head laughing.

Taylor, Casey, and Charlotte decide to head back to the hotel while the rest of us go to another bar. I am definitely starting to feel drunk. As I sip on another beer, I get the brilliant idea to text Easton, but to my surprise, he already texted me a few hours ago.

Easton: Sorry I’ve been MIA. Shit came up.

My heart gives a little flutter because I know he must have been thinking about me while doing whatever shit he was doing. I decide to text him back.

Me: Well I am glad you’re okay. I miss you.

I hit send and then reread the text I sent. Shit, my eyes are blurry. Maybe I have had one too many drinks.

Wait a second did I just text him that I miss him? Fuck.

He responds almost immediately.

Easton: Miss me huh? Do you really or is that just the beer talking?

I get confused because I don’t understand how he knew I was drinking.

Me: Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t.

Easton: Alright Carrie.

Me: ???

Easton: You didn’t do somethin’ bad tonight did you?

Oh my god! Ivy sent him the video. Then he knows I am here with the girls and his sister. And he knows I am probably completely wasted. I look over at Ivy who is staring at me.

“Whatcha doin’ over there, sugar? You got a huge grin on your face.” Ivy smirks.

“You totally sent Easton that video of me and Summer singing!” I slur.

“So? Y’all looked hot in it. I had to let your men know what they were missin’!”

I could choke her right now. “He’s not my man!”

She grabs her beer and takes a long swallow. “Close enough.”

“You do look hot. You probably got my big brother’s panties all in a twist.” Tacoma starts laughing.

“He does not wear panties!”

Both Summer, Tacoma, and Ivy shriek at the same time, “How do you know?!”

I hear my phone chirp and choose to ignore them.

Easton: You thinkin’ about doing something bad to me because I certainly can come up with more than a few ways to do something bad to you.

A rush of heat floods my body and I squeeze my legs tight from the warmth that reached my center.

Me: I can’t believe she sent that to you.

Easton: You looked hot babe. I hope I get to see you in that shimmery number soon. Although it won’t take long for it to end up on my floor.

Oh god. He needs to stop texting me or else I am going to need to find some way to release the pressure building up in me and soaking my panties.

Me: Keep dreaming buddy. My phone is about to die. Gotta go. Sweet dreams.

My battery is more than half full, but I’m starting to feel like I might need some private time in the bathroom if I let that continue.

Easton: I’m always dreamin’ of you sweet cheeks. Stay safe. Night.

I slam my phone down on the table and take a huge swig of beer.

Tacoma leans over and whispers in my ear, “Good thing it’s dark in here and no one can see your flush, but I totally know you were having sexy talk with my brother.”

I flush even more and excuse myself to the bathroom to cool down. As I make my way back to the table I hear Summer say something about going to Tootsie’s. We all crack up and decide it’s probably time to go back to the hotel.