Stay With Me_Taphouse Blues Series_Bk 1

by Heather Lyn

  “Thanks, man. We’ll be there. Text me what time you’re thinking.”

  “Talk to you later, Brody.”

  Garret ends the call and I pull away from Walker’s, heading to Lindsey’s apartment. I have a surprise for her tonight, and I really hope she likes it. We’ve been together for almost three months, and we’re finally able to have a normal relationship. Sure, there are still days where she gets nervous over little things, and getting a call from an unknown number freaks her out, but I can’t blame her.

  Until they actually have that fucker in jail, there isn’t a whole hell of a lot we can do. Maybe almost getting himself caught in the act that night in the bar made him realize he was fucking crazy, I don’t know, but we haven’t heard boo from him and it’s fucking great.

  When I pull into her apartment complex a few minutes later, I park and climb out of the truck, leaving it running while I go around to the bed to check that everything is all set. Blankets, pillows, a cooler, and a few other items are waiting for what will hopefully be an amazing night for my girl. When I’m satisfied that everything is well hidden, I go back to the driver side and pull the door open, reaching in for my phone. Sending Linds a quick text, I lean back against the side of the vehicle to wait for her.

  Several minutes go by and then I hear her. Looking up, I see her in front of me, dressed in a pair of black leggings and a baggy sweater. Early fall is upon us in Tennessee, and I’m so ready for it. The cool crisp air, beer by a fire, music playing loudly. It’s my favorite season, and I’m ready to spend it with my favorite girl.

  “Hey, handsome!” Jumping into my arms, I pull her close and kiss those soft lips I love so much. She pulls away, her long hair blowing in the breeze, and I smile.

  “Hey, baby.”

  “Where are you taking me tonight?”

  “Just you wait and see, Linds.”

  Setting her down, I can’t resist for the thousandth time and swat her on the ass, laughing when she rolls her eyes and slaps my chest.

  “Let’s go, Walker. And leave my butt alone.”

  “Never gonna happen, Taylor.”

  She rolls her eyes and I stick my tongue out at her before helping her climb into the vehicle and then jogging around the back, hopping inside. Looking over at her beautiful face, I buckle up and put the truck in Drive.

  As we pull out of the complex, she leans over and hits a few buttons on the dash, the loud sounds of the latest Dustin Lynch album blaring through the speakers. Laughing, I crank the music and we take off, heading for my favorite place in the world. Lindsey is singing along with the music, and as we pull up to a red light, I find myself completely lost in her.

  Her eyes. Her beautiful and kind heart. Her laugh. Everything about her is just so natural and free-spirited, lovely and yet humble. She has no idea how stunning she is, and even if she did, it wouldn’t change how she is.

  The earth is a more beautiful place because she’s on it. And I love her. Every single perfect and yet flawed piece of her. Uncontrollably and unexplainably, I love every single thing about her. The way she wrinkles her nose at me when I annoy her. Her quiet strength, but her ability to allow me to shelter her from a storm.

  Lindsey Taylor is my reason, my best friend, and the woman I love most.

  Now I just need to tell her.

  §

  Thirty minutes later, I turn onto an old dirt road, bouncing up and down as my truck hits pothole after pothole.

  “Jesus, Brody. You couldn’t have taken any other road?”

  “Nope. This is the only way to get there.”

  “Whatever you say. But if I have whiplash tomorrow, it’s your funeral.”

  Shaking my head, I laugh and reach over to squeeze her leg. She’s hanging on tight to the handle over the window and her eyes are huge. Moving my foot slightly, I slow the truck down so we aren’t bouncing quite as much, and she seems relieved.

  “We’re almost there, and I promise it’ll be worth it.”

  Another half a mile and we’re there. Turning the corner, I drive into the clearing. A half-acre plot in the center of my late uncle’s land, it’s cleared for a home to be built, with nothing but trees and sky as far as the eye can see on all sides. It’s my favorite place in the world, and it’s all mine. Uncle Paul left this lot to me, and another one a couple miles down for Garret.

  “Holy crap,” Lindsey breathes out, staring through the windshield. The sun is just starting to set, pink and oranges streaking the sky, the vivid colors standing out against the green of the trees. “It’s so beautiful.”

  “You should look in the mirror sometime,” I joke, leaning over to kiss her cheek. Lindsey blushes and shakes her head, bottom lip between her teeth.

  Pulling my truck to the middle of the clearing, I park and turn the engine off.

  “Come with me,” I say. Leaving the keys in the ignition, I rush around the truck and pull down the tailgate, then motion to her to cover her eyes and turn around. Laughing, she does as I ask and I go about setting the bed up. Laying a couple blankets down, I toss the pillows at one end and move the cooler toward the cab.

  “Okay, turn around.”

  Linds turns to me and her mouth drops open. “Brody, oh my gosh.”

  “Come up here.” Bending over, I hold a hand out and help her into the bed of the truck. When her feet are safely on the surface, she weaves her arms around my neck and goes up on tiptoes to kiss me, running her fingers through my hair.

  “This is perfect,” she whispers against my lips.

  “I’m glad you like it.” Breaking away from her, I lock our fingers together, holding her hand up so I can brush a soft kiss to the back of it. “Now sit down, there’s more.”

  She makes herself comfortable against the pillows, and I grab the extra blanket and lay it down on top of her. Reaching into the cooler, I pull out the chilled bottle of white wine and the plastic glasses. Glad I remembered to pop the cork earlier, I yank it out and pour us each a glass before settling down next to her. She cuddles against me, resting her head on my shoulder.

  “There’s some fruit and cheese in there, and I also packed cold pizza because everyone knows that if you only eat grapes with wine you get drunk.”

  Laughing, Lindsey takes a sip of her wine and looks up at me. “I can’t believe you did all this for me. It’s amazing, Brody.”

  “Don’t you know by now that I’d do just about anything for you?”

  Lindsey scrunches her nose in thought and then nods.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  We sit silently, drinking our wine, and a few minutes later when her stomach growls loudly, we laugh and dig into the pizza, the wine forgotten.

  §

  The sun set about an hour ago, and we’re lying together under the blanket staring up at the sky, blanketed with stars. The sound of crickets is soothing, and Lindsey shifts around so her head is resting in my lap, her hands on my thigh.

  “Hey, Brody, can I ask you something?”

  “You can ask me anything, baby.” I run my hand through her hair, finger-combing the long soft locks.

  “What happened to Carmen?”

  My hand stills. “What do you mean?” I ask, resuming the motions.

  “Well, that night at the bar, when Dark Roads came? Carmen was telling me how lucky I was to have you. She said she owed her life to you. I meant to ask you that night, but we know what ended up happening and well, I completely forgot. But I ran into her the other day and it’s been on my mind. So, what happened?”

  “Well, she was in the bar one night with Kenni and Carmen’s sister in-law, Aubrey. They were celebrating or something, I don’t know all the details. Anyway, before Carmen moved home after college, she had this piece-of-shit boyfriend who liked to use her as a punching bag.”

  I have to clench my jaw at the memory of the awful events of that night. Shaking my head, I plow on, the words spilling from my mouth bitter and angry.

  “I was behind the bar all night, the place still r
elatively new, but because of a baseball game it was busy. Anyway, I was filling a beer when I heard screaming coming from the back hall. Aubrey came running up to the bar, crying hysterically, something about Carmen. I went racing after her and found her ex-boyfriend beating the shit out of her. I mean, her entire face was swollen and bruised, and he was choking her against the wall. I hardly remember yanking him off her. Grabbed his pathetic ass and wrenched his arm good, yelled to Kenni to call 911. Luckily, Garret was only a few blocks away while on patrol with Jace, so they were the first to arrive.”

  I have to take a deep breath, forcing my anger away, trying to calm myself down.

  Lindsey sits up and turns so she can sit on my lap, her face inches from mine.

  “Then what happened?” she asks softly, her eyes searching for mine in the dark.

  “I went to Carmen and stayed with her and the girls until the ambulance arrived. He’d knocked her out, but she was hurt bad. I just remember praying for her, praying for my best friend. Hunter was a fucking wreck when he saw her, ended up beating the holy hell out of the bastard when Garret was hauling his ass from the bar.”

  “Good,” Lindsey states, her hands on my shoulders.

  “We don’t really talk about it. It’s like ever since that night, there’s been this weird unspoken bond between us all.”

  “You saved her life, Brody.”

  “I just did what anyone else would have.”

  Shaking her head, Lindsey takes my face in her small hands and rests her forehead against mine. “No, Brody. You saved her life. You’re a hero.”

  “I’m not a hero, Lindsey. Just someone who was there at the right time.”

  “Maybe so, but it doesn’t change what you did. I’m so proud of you.”

  For some reason, my throat fills with emotion and I have to force it down, swallowing around the lump. Gently I kiss her, holding her body as close to me as I can.

  “Linds….”

  “Brody….”

  “I love you,” I say, unable to hold the words back any longer.

  Her eyes widen and in the glow of the moonlight, I watch them fill with tears. “You what?”

  “I love you. I have for a while now, and I wanted to tell you, but the timing never felt right. But I do, Linds. I love you so much, with everything I have.”

  She dips her head, and I kiss the top of it. In a moment she lifts her head again, a smile a mile wide on her face.

  “I love you too, Brody Walker.”

  Capturing her mouth with mine, I smile against her lips, softly nipping at the plump skin, her breath mingling with my own.

  “Best thing ever,” I mumble, heart completely full from this beautiful woman sitting in my lap. Eventually I pull away, just drinking her in, the sweet-smelling perfume she wears invading all my senses.

  Moving us around, I lie down on the blankets and take Lindsey with me, her head resting on my chest. No words are exchanged. Except for the kiss I place to her forehead every so often, we simply lie together in the peace and serenity, staring up at the sky that rivals the beauty of the woman I’m in love with. Before I know it, we both begin to drift off, and I pull her close as sleep takes me under.

  §

  Blinking my eyes open, I register something hitting me in the forehead. Looking around, I realize we’re still in the bed of the truck. Lindsey is asleep in my arms, so I move around to get comfortable again. But just as I’m closing my eyes, I feel it again. And then again on my arm. And then my cheek.

  Fuck. It’s starting to rain.

  I’ve just started to shake Lindsey awake when the skies open and a blanket of rain comes pouring down. Lindsey startles awake and we start laughing, rushing to get into the shelter of my truck. Laughing loudly, I shut the door behind me and look over at Lindsey. We’re both completely soaked through, her blonde hair matted to her face.

  “Well, that wasn’t part of the plan,” I joke, turning the engine so I can crank the heat.

  Lindsey moves over to me and straddles my lap. “Neither was this,” she says, taking my lips roughly, hips rocking into mine.

  I close my eyes, the sound of the rain pounding down around us. And minutes later, when she lowers herself onto my cock and begins rocking up and down, the windows fog and the thunder rolls through, drowning out the sounds of our lovemaking, until Lindsey yells out three of the sweetest words I’ve ever heard, made that much sweeter by the sight of her coming apart in my arms.

  “I love you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Lindsey

  Hollie motions over the waiter. “Can we get another round, please?” He nods, taking away our empty glasses.

  We’re at this swanky new restaurant downtown, and I’m impressed. This place is incredible, and they have a huge drink menu. I can’t help thinking that Brody and I should come here sometime. Ryan is supposed to be meeting us soon. He got caught up at work, so he texted me to tell us to start without him but to have a burger waiting on him.

  “So, gimme all the deets, lady. What happened last week?”

  “Not too much to tell you, Holl. I love him. Period. Brody is just so amazing, and my mom loves him. Tells me that every time we talk. I don’t know, I guess I never knew this kind of love existed, and I’m so glad I found it. But I’m scared too, to be honest.”

  “Scared of what?”

  “Getting hurt. That this isn’t real. That he’ll wake up one day and realize he’s not really in love with someone as simple as me. Am I crazy?”

  Hollie flips her red hair over her shoulder and pins me with a serious stare. “No, I understand. You guys have been together what, three months?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Liam told me he loved me two weeks in. I thought he was insane, and I laughed at him. He didn’t care. He knew it was crazy, but then a month later, I think, we were at the movies and I looked over at him during the opening credits and just blurted out to him, ‘I love you.’ He just laughed and said, ‘Took you long enough.’ When it happens and you know it’s right, it’s right. There is no time limit on love, nor is there too fast or too slow. When you fall in love, nothing else matters. Four years later, Liam still makes my heart race. And his smile is still my weakness. That will never change, I guarantee it.”

  She squeezes my hand, and I lean my head on her shoulder and smile.

  “I don’t know, Hollie. We’ve just had this connection right from the very beginning. I’ve never felt like this before in my entire life. I get butterflies when he kisses me, and if I’m not with him, I’m thinking about him. I imagine what our children will look like, what kind of wedding dress I want. And then I find myself going, ‘Stop. It’s been three months. That’s not possible.’ But my parents got married a year after they met.”

  “It sounds like you’re in love, Linds. And I’m so happy for you.”

  “Thanks, Holl. What would I do without you?”

  “You’ll never have to find out.”

  Laughing, we’re interrupted when the waiter brings us two more cosmos. I’ve just taken a sip when I look up to see Ryan hurrying over to us, a smile on his face.

  “Well, look at you beautiful ladies. Please tell me we have a hot waiter,” he jokes, dropping into the booth across from us. I shake my head as his burger is delivered and he feigns fainting. “Thank God, I’m fucking starving.”

  “Rough shift?”

  “A couple pukers, a skateboarding fiasco, and an old man convinced Jesus was talking to him through his heart medication. Yeah, rough is the perfect word. Not to mention Andie put me on fucking phone duty after I got back from lunch. I hate that bitch sometimes.”

  “She’s just trying to keep the department running smooth while we’re short staffed.”

  “Please, Linds. I love you, but she’s trying to make my life miserable. I work my ass off for the department and I get the shaft every time.”

  “Aw, but you love the shaft,” Hollie laughs, jerking her hand up and down in her lap. Ryan
bursts out laughing and the stress of work melts away from him. Ordering a beer, he seems much more relaxed after a few minutes. Hollie and I decide to order a massive nacho platter to share, and by the last sip of my drink, I’m starting to feel really good. I’m not a huge drinker, but I need a night to just wind down and keep my mind off things.

  “So how’s that hot boyfriend doing, boo?” Ryan asks with a wink.

  “He’s doing freaking marvelous,” I say, words mushing together as I speak. Shit, maybe I’m feeling even better than I originally thought.

  “I’m glad. It was about time you got laid.”

  “Mmm. I get laid almost every night, thank you,” I laugh, hair falling in my face as I bounce around in my seat.

  “Lucky you,” Ryan groans, pouting when I giggle. “I haven’t gotten laid in way too long. My hand and I shouldn’t be as well acquainted as we are.”

  “Oh, God,” Hollie giggles, hand covering her mouth as we all laugh.

  “Shut it. It’s not funny,” he grumbles, popping a fry in his mouth.

  “You should let us set you up,” Hollie says, eyes lighting up at the idea. I nod, excited at the prospect of playing matchmaker. But then it dawns on me that I don’t know any single gay men, and even if I did, Ryan probably knows them too.

  “Hell no. Sorry, sunshine, but I don’t need my two girlfriends setting me up with some wishy-washy fucker y’all find on Farmers Only or something.”

  “What the fuck is Farmers Only?” I ask.

  “You don’t want to know.” Ryan shakes his head, and I sigh.

  “Oh, what about Clive from down in the lab? Isn’t he available?” Hollie looks at me to get my input, but I shrug, unsure of who she’s speaking of.

  “Shut up, he is not.”

  “Seriously, I think he dumped Adrian. You should ask him out. At least get some angry breakup sex out of it.” Hollie wags her eyebrows and Ryan, who laughs, shaking his head at her suggestion.

  “We’ll see.”

  Laughing, we order another round of drinks, and when Hollie and I hop into the Uber we’re sharing later on, I rest my head on her shoulder, wishing the car would stop spinning. I’m gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow, but I don’t care. I tell the driver to take me to Brody’s. He’s still at the bar, but it closes at midnight and then he’ll be home, so a hot shower and a nap should have me sobered up enough to spend some time with him when he gets back.