“I never asked why you were at the airport,” Jolene says, and it takes me a moment to realize what she’s talking about.
So much has happened in two days that I already forgot I’d met her again in an Uber, coming back from the airport.
I tilt my head, raising my beer to Chris. “I just said, to Vegas for a bachelor party. It was for one of the guys at my dad’s shop. They flew out of Sacramento.”
“That seriously was the first time you left the state?” she asks, seemingly shocked.
I shrug before Bryan says, “This guy’s too busy to explore the world.”
He’s right. Between Luke, the bar, and my dad, my feet are grounded in Northern California until further notice.
I put a hand on the back of Bryan’s neck and say, “I live vicariously through this guy. He’s an Air Force man.”
Bryan lifts his fist for a bump, and I return it.
He turns to Jolene and tells her, “I tried to get stationed here at Travis, but they sent me to Spokane. I got out two years ago. Now, I’m working as a mechanic on the planes at the Sacramento Airport.”
Jolene leans in, seemingly excited to have something in common with a person in Dixon. “Where did you get to travel?”
“Spain was probably my favorite.” He nods with a smile on his face.
The two grin at each other, like they’re reliving the same fond memories. They start on a tangent of cities, places they’ve both been to, and they trade stories. When they start talking about some beach on the south side of France, I realize that’s something Jolene and I will never have in common. She’s been all around the world, and I’ve never left the West Coast of the continental United States.
At the table next to us, Kelly is serving drinks. She looks at me with a shrug and then shoots daggers at Jolene. While the attitude is unwarranted, something she said at the bar resonates with me.
The past isn’t the problem.
It’s the present.
“Up All Night” by Jon Pardi comes on over the speaker system, and the entire bar jumps to their feet. The DJ in the corner cranks the volume as everyone heads to the dance floor.
I put my beer on the table and then reach over for Jolene’s, putting hers down next to mine.
When she looks up at me with a pout, I take her hand and explain, “It’s tradition. You have to pay homage to the man from Dixon if his song comes on.”
“No.” She pulls back, but I grip her waist and bring her to me.
“You can take the girl out of Dixon, but you can’t take Dixon out of the girl.”
She rolls her eyes and flops her body like she’s surrendering to my request.
“I’ll admit, when I heard someone from Dixon had made it big in the music industry, I was surprised,” she says. “Although knowing it was country music was pretty much a given from this small farming town.”
I take her hand and lead her to the tiny dance floor. The song is a little faster with a catchy beat that’s easy to dance to.
My hands rest on her hips as I bring my body to hers, leading us in a side-to-side sway with the music. As Jolene lifts her arms over her head, she leans back with a rebellious gleam in her eye.
I bend my knees and rest a hand on the small of her back, willing her back up and into me.
Our foreheads touch as everyone sings at the top of their lungs, “Gettin’ down to some up all night!”
We both laugh as I spin her in my arms, bringing her back to my front and holding tightly as we continue to dance and laugh and just be us. She spots Lindsey, and the two girls dance alongside each other while I stay behind her, moving and looking at her mesmerizing ways.
The song changes to a slow one, and instead of heading back to our seats, I take her hand and swing her around, so she’s flush against me. She doesn’t fight it. She just rests her head on my chest and holds on to me. We move together to the song of two people so in love yet too stubborn to let the other in.
Having her in my arms feels so good … too good. I keep the beat as we lose ourselves in this moment.
I lean back, and she looks up at me on instinct. Those beautiful brown eyes, so big and bright, are looking at me from under hooded lids and long lashes. They flutter as I place my forehead against hers.
She lifts her hand to my face and runs her soft fingers against the stubble of my jaw. Her thumb glides over my lips. I take it into my mouth and kiss the pad.
The look in her eyes is pure intimacy.
I try to ignore the bells going off in my head, knowing we shouldn’t do this. We can’t. Our lives are worlds apart, and we’re only going to hurt one another again.
I try to stop it but am powerless when I’m with her. When she stretches up on her toes, I waste no time in claiming what’s mine.
My grip on her is tight as I seal her mouth with mine, branding her with my kiss. It’s slow and passionate, hot and sexy.
She lets out the softest moan, and I swallow it, knowing I’ll hold on to that sound for the rest of my life.
“Jolene,” I say as I part my lips from hers.
Her eyes are still closed, and her lips are pursed. “Yes?”
I wait for her lids to open before I speak. When they do, I can’t help but smile at the way she crinkles her forehead, wondering what was so important that I disrupted our moment.
“I want you to meet my son,” I say.
Her eyes widen. A glazed sheen forms over them. “Really?”
“That is, if you want to meet him.”
As her arms round my neck, she plays with the ends of my hair and grins. “I’d like that.”
My heart is beating a thousand miles a minute. I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but damn if she doesn’t make me absolutely crazy in all the best ways.
I kiss her again because, fuck it, I can.
We stay on the dance floor, kissing each other like no one else is in sight. It’s not until the song is over that I pull away. Keeping my hand in hers, I lead her back to the table, where everyone is trying not to stare in our direction, but I see it written all over their faces.
They think we’re fucked.
It’s quite possible that we are.
12
Zack
After finalizing the last car, we get back on the road to San Francisco just in time to make the scrimmage game at Luke’s baseball camp.
When we arrive at the ball fields, Jolene and I make our way to the stands where we find a spot to watch the game.
The camp is put on by the neighborhood high school, and the older kids seem to be having a blast, playing the part as coaches to the little guys.
Each young kid takes their spot in the batter’s box as a high school player pitches soft tosses to them. When questionable calls are made, the other acting coaches come out, jokingly fighting with the kid umpires and stating their cases.
It’s Luke’s turn up at bat, and a rock song plays on the loud speaker. When I hear the beat drop, I stand, hollering for my boy as they call out his name. Jolene is quick to follow my lead, and it only makes my smile grow bigger.
“Are they playing Papa Roach as his walk-up song?” she asks.
I laugh. “They let the kids pick their own walk-up song. Luke and I spent an entire afternoon going through songs. ‘Born for Greatness’ had the best beat and, come on, what a statement to make.”