Misadventures with a Country Boy

by Elizabeth Hayley

  “I don’t want to picture that, and neither should you. I’m surprised no one’s recognized you yet.”

  That same thought had crossed Brooke’s mind on more than a few occasions, but the truth was, neither her name nor her appearance were recognizable to most of the country. At least not yet. “That’s why I left, Nat. At least right now I still have some sort of privacy. If I become a household name, any chance I have at a normal life will be gone.” She heard her voice get softer, sadder as she spoke. “I never wanted any of this.” When she heard the razor turn off, her eyes darted to the bathroom. “I gotta go. Cole’s probably almost done in the bathroom. He’ll be out any second.”

  “You’re sharing a room with him?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “There’s a story?”

  Brooke rolled her eyes but then smiled. It was a good thing her sister couldn’t see it. “Goodbye, Natasha.”

  “Bye, Brookey. Call again soon, okay?”

  “As soon as I can,” Brooke answered. She hung up and stared at the ceiling as the conversation with Natasha echoed in her mind. Part of Brooke wondered if she should tell Cole who she was. It might make her seem less like a criminal on the lam if she came clean about her music career. Not that it was much of a career at this point, but if her parents had their way, she’d go from relatively unknown to a household name in a matter of months.

  But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. At least not yet. She liked that Cole didn’t pull any punches with her. He was real in a way very few people had ever been with her, and she didn’t want to lose it. Especially not when she was already feeling so vulnerable.

  She decided it could wait just as Cole emerged from the bathroom. She did her best not to stare at his exposed chest, but it was impossible. Since she was still on the bed, her face was basically below crotch-level, making it difficult for her to look at his face without her eyes first scanning up his body.

  “You’re up. I hope I didn’t wake you,” he said, walking over to his bag and crouching down to find some fresh clothes. She scooted up the bed so she was resting against the headboard as she watched him. The muscles in his back flexed as he dug around in his bag. Then he stood, turning around to face her. When he pulled a white T-shirt over his head to cover his chest—which she’d noticed had short blond hairs on it—and chiseled abs, her brain began working again, reminding her that she should probably speak.

  “No. No, you didn’t.”

  “Good. You needed the rest. Did you sleep okay last night?”

  “Yeah. I slept well, actually.” She said it like she was surprised, but the truth was, having Cole close to her made her feel protected, safe. “How ’bout you?”

  “Pretty good,” he answered as he walked back into the bathroom, partially closing the door.

  She was sure he didn’t realize his reflection was visible to her in the vanity mirror right outside of the bathroom, making it impossible for her not to watch as he dropped the pants he’d slept in and pulled on his tight boxers and dark khaki shorts. Though she only caught a glimpse of the side of his round ass, it was enough to make her think about what it would feel like in her hands as he moved inside her. This is not what you should be thinking about right now.

  “Bathroom’s all yours whenever you’re ready. No rush, though. I thought we could stay one more night here if that’s okay with you. It’d give us the day to relax. I’m pretty sure we’re in Oklahoma, and I wouldn’t mind seeing what there is to do around here. I mean, it’s no Georgia,” he said with a smile. “But I’m sure there’s somethin’ fun to do.”

  “Sure. Yeah, that’d be good.”

  “All right then,” he said with a nod. “You mind if I run down to the office and talk to them about staying another night? I’ll pick up a map or something.”

  Her first instinct was to tell him not to go, that she didn’t want to be here without him. But she realized how ridiculous that would sound. He was only going a few doors down to the office and would be back in a couple of minutes. “Yeah, that’s fine,” she answered. Then she got up and headed over to the pile of stuff she’d bought at the mall yesterday. “I’ll get a shower while you’re gone, and then we can decide what to do.”

  “Sounds good,” Cole said before throwing on a hat and leaving the room, thankfully not questioning why she’d need another shower when she’d taken a bath the night before.

  Cole did his best to be quick. He spoke to the woman in the office, booked the room for a second night, and then talked to her for a minute or so about the area’s attractions, which weren’t many. Though Brooke had said she didn’t mind him leaving, the hesitation in her voice and the way her eyes darted to the floor had told him otherwise. It made sense, given her experience at the bar the previous night, but since this wasn’t the first time Brooke had seemed nervous to be alone, it made him wonder what exactly she was scared of. But he knew better than to ask.

  His curiosity increased when he returned to the room and unlocked the door, only to find that she’d locked the chain after he’d left. Whether she’d forgotten he wouldn’t be able to get back in or was just too freaked out to care, he wasn’t sure. But he figured either way she’d be out of the bathroom soon enough. Until then, he’d lean against the motel’s stucco exterior and study the map he’d picked up so he could mentally plot out a possible route to Oregon.

  About fifteen minutes later, Cole knocked on the door. He didn’t want to startle her by opening it, even if the chain prevented him from coming in. “It’s me,” he called after knocking. “You out of the shower yet?” He didn’t hear an answer, but a few seconds later, he heard the slide of metal and then the door opened.

  “Sorry,” she said. “Force of habit. I always use the security latch or deadbolt or whatever.”

  “You travel a lot?”

  “Yeah. More than I’d like to,” she said. “What about you?”

  “Never really went anywhere at all until I enlisted.” He didn’t want to expand on his statement since the obvious follow-up would’ve been to tell her where he’d been and what he’d seen. Neither of which he wanted to discuss with her. Or with anyone, for that matter. So his best bet was to change the subject. “Speaking of traveling”—he held up the map—“I think I got an idea of a route we could take on our way to Oregon.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  He opened the map back up but held it over his head when Brooke came over and tried to pull her side of it down so she could see what he was looking at. “No way, Princess. Just so we’re clear, this map is for looking only. No touching.”

  “Very funny,” she said with a pout that made her lips look even plumper than they already did.

  He suddenly felt a desire to kiss them. A desire he’d need to keep in check. “I’m not kidding,” he added dryly. “The last time you were in charge of a map didn’t end too good, so I’m takin’ control of this one.”

  She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him, but her exaggerated huff told him she wasn’t as annoyed with him as she let on. “Fine. Where are we going, Thelma?”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “Thelma?”

  “Yeah. Like Thelma and Louise.”

  “But Louise is the driver in that movie.”

  “Whatever. I saw that movie like a million years ago. And Thelma’s the weirder name, so that’s what I’m calling you.” She gave him a smile. “As long as I’m Princess, you’re Thelma,” she said.

  This time he was the one rolling his eyes. “You wanna know where I think we should go, or not?”

  “Yes, I want to know. That’s why I tried to grab the map.”

  He shook his head at her before sitting down on the bed with the map. Immediately, she was at his side, watching his finger trace their possible path across the country. “I think we should head through Colorado next,” he said. “And then Utah. But after that, we could do either Idaho or Nevada.” He lifted his head so he could look at her. “You have a preference?”

&n
bsp; “I don’t know. I guess it depends what there is to do in each and what we plan to do in Colorado and Utah. Did you have any ideas? Anything you were planning to see before you decided to pick up some crazy brunette?”

  After being in a car and hotel rooms for so long, Cole wanted nothing more than the fresh, open air that states like those offered. But Brooke didn’t strike him as the type to go hiking or kayaking or anything like that, so he needed to introduce the idea subtly. “I’ve always wanted to see the Rockies. Driving through Colorado without seein’ ’em doesn’t seem right.” He was aware that his argument was weak, but truthfully, until the two of them had decided to travel together, his only focus had been on getting to Oregon.

  “Okay, so this is probably a dumb question, but what do you actually do in the Rockies? Do you just look at them?”

  Cole tried to stop the laugh that threatened to burst from him but failed miserably.

  “Don’t laugh at me,” she said with a swat to his bicep. “I told you it was probably a dumb question. I’m more of a city girl. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with this type of thing.”

  “You don’t say,” he teased. “I figured you for one of those people who can find their way around by the stars. Thought that was maybe why you threw the map away.”

  “Are you ever gonna let me live that down?”

  “Probably not.” Once Cole was able to get his laughter under control, he spoke again. “Okay, okay,” he said. “Guess it’s a fair enough question. And to answer it, there’s a ton to do in the Rockies, even in the summer. Hiking, horseback riding, boating. Like in a kayak or canoe or something. It wouldn’t be like a yacht or anything,” he added quickly, making Brooke roll her eyes at him.

  “I’m familiar with boats that aren’t yachts.”

  “What? Like a cruise ship?”

  “Shut up,” she said, playfully pushing her shoulder into his. But instead of pulling back afterward, her body remained against his. “But seriously, those things do sound like fun. I could use the exercise, and I’d probably never do any of those things if I weren’t with you.”

  Cole thought about telling her that his thoughts mirrored hers exactly, but he thought better of it because their reasons for feeling that way were vastly different. Instead, he simply said, “Sounds good,” before they moved on to talk about the other states. Surprisingly, Brooke said she’d rather go through Idaho than Nevada because she said she’d already been to Vegas a few times. And though he hadn’t been there himself, he didn’t think he would be missing much.

  Brooke seemed to like the idea of seeing nature more than he’d expected her to, so he suggested they stop at some of the national parks along the way.

  Her eyes rose from the map and settled on his. There was a seriousness to her stare that made him wonder what she was about to say. “I should’ve asked this earlier, but we’re not gonna be camping, are we? Because I draw the line at sleeping with bears.”

  Cole chuckled at her vision of what camping would be like but chose not to correct her. “No, Princess. Tents don’t have mirrors, so I figured you’d wanna stick with hotels.”

  “Then I’m in,” she said. “But just for the record, Thelma. You’re way prettier than I am.”

  Chapter Six

  Trying to decide what the best deal was, Cole stepped back to read the sign again that had the ticket prices and cost of a bracelet, which would let them go on unlimited rides. “So how does this work exactly?” Cole asked the woman at the carnival ticket booth.

  “Just what the sign says, hon. Twenty-five dollars for a bracelet or twenty for a strip of twenty-two tickets.”

  “How many tickets are the rides?”

  “Depends on what you plan on ridin’.” She raised one of her thin, painted eyebrows at him like his question was a dumb one. “This your first fair?”

  “No,” he answered with a laugh he worried revealed his embarrassment. “Just wonderin’ if the bracelet’s worth it.”

  Before the woman could speak, Brooke stepped closer to the booth. She’d been off to the side slightly, but now she was pushing Cole aside with her small body and handing the woman fifty bucks. “We’ll take two bracelets,” she said.

  The woman took the money before handing the bracelets to Brooke and telling them to have a good time.

  “I would’ve paid for those,” Cole said as they walked toward some of the rides. “It was my idea to come here.”

  “Well, there was a group of teenage girls behind you who were murdering you with their eyes, so I thought we should speed it up.”

  Cole let out a sharp laugh. “I ain’t afraid of no girls,” he joked.

  Brooke put on her red-and-white-paper bracelet. Then she looked around at her surroundings, which made Cole do the same. The fair was much bigger than the ones he’d been to in Georgia growing up. While the ones he’d been used to had been held in a small field or a high school parking lot, this one had to be acres. He wasn’t sure how long it had been going on, but the grass had been worn down to a dirt path by all of the foot traffic. Cole hadn’t been around this many people in… Well, he preferred not to think about things he’d seen overseas. This was a completely different situation in a completely different country. And the small children that ran by his hip as he walked were no doubt running toward something, rather than away from it.

  Inhaling deeply, he tried to focus on the comforting smell of funnel cake and some sort of barbecue he knew he’d be eating before he left this place. The scents comforted him as he pulled out his hat from where it had been shoved into his back pocket and put it on his head to block out the sun. He had to admit—though only to himself—the prospect of getting on some of these contraptions scared the hell out of him. He’d never been a fan of traveling fairs like this, where the rides were disassembled and reassembled so frequently. All it took was one loose screw to send the riders plummeting to their deaths. “So what do you wanna ride first?” he asked, almost laughing out loud at the forced enthusiasm.

  “Whatever. I’ll go on almost anything,” Brooke said. Her excitement was evident in the way she bounced on her toes, as if she couldn’t keep the emotion inside her. It was endearing. “And we can do everything eventually, multiple times if we want.”

  That was not the answer Cole was hoping to hear, but he managed to smile anyway and say, “Sounds great.”

  “You want to do that one?” Brooke pointed at some ride that was shaped like an oblong Ferris wheel with enclosed metal boxes for people to sit.

  Cole watched them flip around as the oval wheel spun, and he said a silent prayer before answering, “Sure.”

  A few minutes later, they were belted into the seat, peering out through the holes in the chipped yellow metal. At least if the thing fell off during the ride, the cage would hopefully break their fall. “You can hold my hand,” he said. “If you get scared, I mean.”

  “I’ll probably be good,” she replied. “But thanks. Last time I was at Disney, I went on the Tower of Terror three times. I would’ve done it more, but I’d used my fast passes, and the line was long.”

  “How many times have you been there?” he asked as they waited for the ride to start.

  She thought for a moment. “Maybe seven or so.”

  “Jesus. You really are a princess. Did little kids line up to get their pictures with you?”

  “No,” she answered almost immediately. “Why would they do that?”

  The defensiveness to her question made him wonder if he’d actually offended her. “Because Disney made you an honorary princess,” he explained slowly. “It was a joke. Though I guess not a very good one.”

  “Oh” was all she said as they sat there waiting. Then Brooke spoke again. “There are some things about me I’d really rather not talk about. But I don’t mean to be mysterious.”

  Cole turned toward her so she’d know he was listening, but he didn’t respond, deciding to wait and see if she wanted to say more.

  “I told you a li
ttle about my family. Can we just say that a lot of my trips there weren’t so that I could go on the rides and we’ll leave it at that?”

  “We can leave it at whatever you want, Princess.”

  She seemed to relax, and then the ride started, and the need for words disappeared in the wind that blew in their faces.

  Cole managed to survive, though barely. It had been years since he’d been on any sort of a ride that went upside down like that, and his stomach turned from all of the jerking and flipping. Over the next twenty minutes or so, they went on a few more rides—a small roller coaster, the Ferris wheel, and one of those boat things that swings back and forth in the air. Brooke whooped and hollered, threw her hands in the air, and smiled like she had found her own happiest place on earth. Cole had his eyes closed for most of them while he prayed the mechanics didn’t fail and he wouldn’t throw up. The fact that his prayers had been answered made him not want to press his luck by going on anything else right now. “You wanna watch that competition?” he asked, nodding to where several people had gathered on a small stage. “They have to identify livestock and crops and stuff. Things like this were huge in my town when I was growing up. It says there’s a seven-year-old competing.”

  “Sure,” Brooke said. “As long as we can play some games before we leave.”

  Cole liked the way that sounded. “Deal.”

  They watched the competition—Brooke much more into it than he would’ve guessed—before they moved on to the games. They started at one that involved tossing rings onto beer bottles, but neither of them could get any on after three games, so they called it quits. Then Brooke insisted that she could “definitely” win a stuffed animal at one of those huge claw games. “No way,” Cole told her. “The claw doesn’t close until it’s too far up to grab anything. Those things are rigged.”

  “That’s a loser’s mentality,” she said, not even bothering to look back at him as she pulled him in the direction of the claw machine she’d spotted about ten yards away.