Page 35 of Lexi Lets Go

He reached his hand out to shake Liam’s hand.

"Hey man, are you any good at bags?" he asked.

"I've been known to throw a bag or two in my day," Liam said.

"Great, you're on my team. Watch out for that one, she cheats," he said, gesturing to Hannah.

"You can't cheat at cornhole, Sam. Either you get it in the hole, or you don't. You just don't like that we beat you," she said flatly.

"Funny how you only beat me when you’re keeping score."

She rolled her eyes but still smiled. "Are we going to play or what?"

"You're up," he said, tossing the bags to Liam.

Liam tossed the bag, and it slid right into the hole.

"Nice. You're going down Hannah," Sam said with a triumphant smirk.

"We'll see."

Liam looked around and Lexi was up talking to her brother at the grill. The game took place around him, the banter and the smack talk flowing. No one here had treated him like Liam James. There were no weird looks, no autographs, no awkwardness, they just let him exist. That hadn’t happened for him in a long time. He relaxed into the game and meeting these new people. When he glanced up again, he caught Lexi staring at him. He winked at her, and she grinned back. Something about the perfect normalcy of this evening felt good.

"It's ready," Josh called out as he took the burgers off the grill.

They all went inside to fix their plates. "Hey, I picked up some gluten-free buns when Lexi said you might come. Of course, there is gluten in the pasta salad, but everything else should be good," said Poppy.

"Thank you," he said, surprised people had taken him into consideration like that without his team of people.

"Of course! Let me know if you need anything else."

He nodded and waited back while everyone made their plates, opting to take it all in instead.

"Poppy, the kitchen looks amazing," Hannah said to Poppy and they both started chatting.

Sam had slipped in behind the man standing next to the refrigerator and hugged him from behind and whispered something in his ear. Lexi came and stood beside him. He wanted so badly to reach out and put his arm around her. He wanted so badly to belong to these people and this place.

"You ready?" Lexi asked him, handing him a plate.

He nodded and took the plate and filled it with all the great cookout food he could.

They all went back outside and sat around the patio table. The sun was starting to set, and Josh turned on some fairy lights. It was picturesque. This is exactly the vibe he was going for in his music video. He knew this place would give him what he was looking for.

"So, what brought you to Mystic Falls?" asked Jackson.

"It's kind of a funny story. Somehow, we ended up over a hundred miles off track and the tour bus broke down here. Then the venue for the concert we were on our way to flooded with that big storm we got the night before last. It has been an odd series of events," he said.

He noticed that Hannah and Poppy exchanged an interesting look, unsure why.

"But I decided to stay,” he continued. “I’m hoping to find a place to film the video for Home and this town has exactly the feel I’m looking for."

"Well, if you need any shots of the orchard let me know," Sam said.

"Sam, do not use this to plug the orchard," Poppy said glaring at him.

"What? I'm just saying, we have some pretty spots," he said defensively. Poppy raised an eyebrow at him.

"I’ll check it out. I’m here till Sunday afternoon, then I have to head into the city. I have a show on Monday."

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