Chapter 1
“Keys, money, card. That’s everything,” I say out loud to myself, while sending a text. Getting out, blowing off steam will do me good and I haven't seen Ava in ages.
Me: Up for drinks tonight?
Ava: Can’t make it. Sorry, babe. Wyatt’s home. Rain check?
Then there’s a whole slew of emojis depicting their plans for the night. Wowza. Well, who am I to deny her some quality time with the hubby?
I text her back: Sure. No worries, hon.
I slump my shoulders feeling the tiniest pang of jealousy, but I'm about eighty percent happy for her.
She’s one of the few friends I have since I settled in the suburbs. This arrangement is temporary because next summer I’ll be touring again. The new album will drop, but a bit of normalcy is good for the soul.
I exhale with a bitter smile at my phone. Well shit. “Can’t fault her for wanting an evening in with her hunky husband.” I say out loud, but there's no one to hear.
If I had that at home, I’d never leave.
Looks like I’m solo tonight.
Unless.
I whip out my phone, keying up a plea to Amie. Right before I hit send, I pause with my finger hovering over the button.
No.
It’s her day off, and it’s her bar. It’s probably the last place she’d want to be. I delete the message and stuff my phone in my back pocket.
Solo it is.
I step out the door of my home into the chilly air. Good thing I thought to grab my leather bomber jacket on the way out. I’d freeze to death out here.
It’s an exaggeration, of course, but it’s freaking Texas. And it shouldn’t be this cold. I can almost see my breath; it’s that unseasonably chilly for Ebony Cove. Old man Winter is blowing, showing his face a month early. He’s being a real jackass about it.
The heat suits me better—skimpy clothes, lots of skin, and sweaty bodies. I can’t handle the temperature when it dips below sixty-nine degrees. The mere thought of that number makes me laugh to myself, amused at my immaturity.
Even with the jacket on, the chilled air prickles my skin, leaving sensations of tiny pins all over my body. A frigid kiss of night air blows up my barely there shorts over my nether regions.
“There it is, the most action my lady bits have seen in a hot minute,” I say my words nothing more that billowing clouds kissing the air.
A taxi pulls up and I hop in. The jolt of the cold seat on my bare thighs sends another tiny shiver through me. I rub my knees together, rocking in place to raise my temperature, to no avail.
“1417 Main Street please.”
