Page 53 of Side Trip

Amarillo, Texas, to BFE, a.k.a. Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere (Joy’s Idea)

Yesterday had been hell. Today was going to be a different sort of hell.

Joy knocked on Dylan’s door at the ungodly hour of 6:00 a.m. She announced that she wanted to take a side trip and needed his agreement.

Was she serious? He didn’t make decisions before 7:00 a.m.

She wanted to spend the day sunbathing and had found a swimming hole with a waterfall about an hour south of Oklahoma City. It would take more than four hours to get there and she wanted to be there before lunch, which meant they had to leavenow.

“You’re kidding?” he grumbled, his voice gritty with sleep. At least he’d gotten some, though not enough. He’d lain awake thinking about her and everything that was off-limits that he wanted to do to her.

Joy shook her head. She was serious about this trek.

“Whatever.” So long as he could sleep in the car and they were in Oklahoma City by 9:00 p.m. He had a gig at nine thirty.

“Sweet!” She clapped. “This will be fun.”

Dylan groaned. He wasn’t so sure about that.

He rolled his forehead against the doorjamb and stood there, holding the door open, wearing nothing but sleep shorts and a wild mess of morning hair. He squinted at her against the rising sun’s glare. He was still wiped from last night. Performing onstage wasn’t just a physical workout for him. It took an emotional toll. But the side trip with Joy wasn’t going to be torturous. It was what she was wearing.

Practically nothing.

He tried not to let his eyes bug out. She wore flip-flops and a white lace cover-up with way too many peekaboo holes, because underneath he saw strings. Lots and lots of turquoise strings.

Practical, prim Joy had a string bikini. And she planned to wear it all day. In front of him.

Pure hell.

Her gaze dipped to the sunburst on his pec.

“See something you like?” A single brow lifted, crinkling his forehead.

Her eyes rocket blasted back to his face. “What? No.” She blushed.

He smirked. “I need to shower and pack. Be out in ten.”

“Wear your swimsuit,” she gleefully ordered before he shut the door in her face.

Dylan faced the tiny motel room and raked both hands into his hair, holding back the waves. “Fuck.” He let his arms fall. He was not supposed to feel this way about her. Aboutanyone. God help him, he was attracted to her and way more interested than he wanted to be.

When he came out to the car Joy drove to the park and he bought them sandwiches and snacks at the campground market. After a short walk to the swimming hole, she picked a spot near the water’s edge. They lay on their towels head-to-head and ate lunch.

The place was beautiful with the waterfall and trees. Families picnicked on the shore like an image from an RV travel magazine. But the view in front of him took his breath away. Propped on her forearms, her face free of makeup and skin slick with sunscreen, Joy was a vision. And keeping his gaze eye level was proving to be a challenge. Everything that wasn’t covered by those two triangle scraps of turquoise was visible for anyone to see. Forhimto see.

She was beautiful and he wished that he could tell her. But that would be crossing the friend-zone line, wouldn’t it? Dylan didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize his pact with Joy. He didn’t want to wind up hitching a ride to the nearest rental car agency, driving east alone. Or worse, performing onstage without her in the audience. She also wasn’t a one-night fling. He respected her too much for a wham-bam-thank-you screw.

Yep. He’d arrived at the conclusion last night. His interest in her had moved beyond simple friendship. He handled his anxiety better when she was there. She helped him focus, like Billie had when he was a kid, after Jack, with his sweet talk and roaming hands, would manipulate his mom into agreement. Let Dylan onstage with him.The more he performs, the better he’ll learn to handle his shit.

Dylan rolled onto his back and closed his eyes. The sounds of the waterfall and kids splashing receded to white noise in the background. He felt himself drift, chasing thezzzs Joy had stolen from him that morning when she woke him up.

A shadow fell over him. He opened his eyes and held his hand against the glare. Joy stood over him.

“I’m going in.” She didn’t wait. She waded into the water, dipped her head back to drench her hair, then swam to the center of the swimming hole. Treading water, she watched kids play under the waterfall. He watched her.

She laughed when a boy dunked his younger brother only to get splashed back, and his chest tightened in reaction to her smile. He wanted to be out there with her. He wanted to be next to her where he could hear her laugh rather than recall the musical sound from memory. Rising, he waded to his knees, then cut through the water. He felt immediate relief, from the sun and from fighting his desire.

Dylan surfaced behind Joy, inhaling a large breath as he did. A sheet of water crashed into his face. He sputtered and coughed.

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