Page 19 of A Country Kind Of Love
“Flattering.” Peyton covers her eyes with her hand. Cleo laughs, and it’s so wholesome, and unique. Peyton wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s the most wonderful thing she’s ever heard, but it’s up there.
Their conversation is cut short by Jesse. He calls them over from his position in the infamous egg chair.
It’s game time.
?
The bowl game is a great icebreaker. Everyone puts three random facts about themselves in the bowl and takes a turn to read one out. Peyton learns Jesse used to play Football in college and slept with the coach’s girlfriend in a pickup truck off Highway 70. Christian had a photo with a snake wrapped around his neck taken at a school fair, and the snake tightened its grip until the colour drained from his face. Drew pretended he was training to be an astronaut to get a girl, and when she turned out to be possessive he changed his number and claimed he’d flown to space. Cleo got fired from her first job for constantly chewing gum. She had a twenty-minute argument in front of customers about why chewing gum boosts concentration and helps you stay focused.
They play charades for over an hour. Peyton gets lumbered withwaterfall. How do you act like a waterfall? She looked like a disgruntledorangutang.
Finally, it is trivia time. Jesse chooses Peyton first, which gives her a sense of self-satisfaction, and creates big expectations from the group. If Jesse goes around telling everyone she plays the piano like she’s Martha Argerich, then he’s 1000% told them she knows a thing or two about music trivia.
The questions are compiled from over fifty music quizzes. Jesse has compiled all the questions, printed them, laminated them, and keeps them stored in an old gift box. He’s a man after her own heart.
“Who sings the song, ‘Little Moments’?”
“Oh, come on. That’s easy... Brad Paisley.” Peyton scoffs.
“Correct,” Christian says.
It’s the tenth question she’s gotten right; their team is up fifteen to eleven. She and Jesse have high-fived more times than when she played pat-a-cake as a child, and the jug of El Diablo is going down a treat.
“Which country music star wrote and first recorded ‘I Will Always Love You’, a song which later became Whitney Houston’s biggest selling single?”
Peyton smirks. The questions are too easy.
“Dolly Parton,” she saysconfidently.
“Correct.” Christian scowls at Jesse. He isn’t used to losing, and Jesse is taking great pleasure in beating him. “You get a bonus point if your team can sing the song from topto bottom.”
Jesse jumps up and hands his guitar to Drew. The soft sound of the chords echo around the room as he strums the intro. Jesse takes the first verse; his voice has an edge and grit to it. Peyton joins him to sing the chorus, and the variance in their voices merges to create a velvety blend. He leans into Peyton urging her to take the second verse. She shakes her head regretfully; singing the chorus in harmony is enough of an icebreaker forone evening.
There’s a moment of anticipation. The eyes of the group are on her. It’s clear Jesse has oversold her singing to everyone in the room. They probably think she’s the next Miranda Lambert. In reality she can’t even sing in front of her family without being dishonourably forced. She’s a songwriter. It’s in the title; she falls into the background. She wants to be a name in the credits and get the occasional shoutout at a music award ceremony. That is what she dreamt of, nothing fancier. She doesn’t want centre stage.
Cleo stares at her; can she sense the resistance? Peyton’s hands clasp tightly around her glass, so tight she’s afraid she’ll shatter it. The energy in the room centres in on her. Even Bugsy the tarantula glares at her from his large glass tank. She has two options. She can suck it up and sing. Drew begins to play the chords again and again, waiting for her to take the leap. Or, she can run into her bedroom and hide in shame, pack her belongings, and never show her face around Jesse or his friendsever again.
She opens her mouth, but the words come from somewhere else. She looks up to see Cleo singing the opening line of the second verse.
“I hope... life treats you...kind...”
There’s a gravelly texture to her voice. It’s gentle. She looks her in the eye briefly. Cleo grins. Her eyes crinkle at the edges, and Peyton finds herself lost in her smile. The room is humming with the energetic current that comes from singing; it bonds people. Everyone has their arms wrapped around one another. The sweet sound of the guitar fills the air, and Christian’s team joins in too, but Cleo—
Cleo iscaptivating.
She’s got Peyton’s full attention. It’s hard to look away. She’s compelled by her beauty, her voice, her charisma; it’s like the first time she watched Stefania Spampinato interact with Danielle Savre on Station19. Magical.
Peyton is not picturing Cleo naked. She is not picturing the chemistry they have in that moment resulting in the two of them rolling around on the new cream rug she purchased for her bedroom. No. Absolutely not.
Peyton is responsible and level-headed, and—gulp.
Cleo winks at her; she winks between the chorus and the final verse. How can a half-blink be so sexy? It’s an overused sign of flirtation, that’s all. It’s the most basic human reaction to finding someone attractive, but when Cleo does it Peyton feels her insides flip like she’s doing a back dive triple somersault at the Olympic Games.
The song ends; a guy called Elijah wraps his arm around Cleo. He shakes her playfully as the girl who arrived with Christian ruffles her hair. The room is charged, high fives and fist pumps galore, and for the first time since she arrived in Nashville Peyton feels like she might belong.
?
The lights in her bedroom are a new edition; they add the cosy element she’s been looking for against an otherwise plain brick wall. They have four settings. After fifteen minutes of twinkling she switches them to permanently on. The majority of Jesse’s friends are leaving; she hears the door slam for a second time. It’s a heavy-duty door with a serious lock sticking issue; there is no way anyone is getting in or out of the apartment undetected. It’s Jesse’s version of an alarm system.
