Page 41 of Dirty Mind
“But what if that girl’s your future?” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder, in Charli’s direction. “I speak from experience when I tell you that love finds you at the most inopportune time.” He smiled. “When I met Nikki, she was too damn young. I was at the end of my career as a bull rider, feeling washed up and lost, and she was on the verge of superstardom. Ready to hit the road on her first tour and take on the world.”
“What happened?”
“I pushed her away.” He glanced at the bar where there were patrons lined up from one end to the other. “Thought I had nothing to offer her. I’d made the mistake of messin’ around with a lot of women. Developed a bad reputation. Her old man hated me. He didn’t think I was good enough for her.” He raised an eyebrow, punctuating the similarities between my story and his. “He was right. The man I was then wasn’t good enough for her. But every day I worked at getting better… until I was confident I did deserve her.”
I wondered if it was possible for me to turn things around the way J.T. had. To pour everything I had into a relationship with Charli while erasing every bad memory from my past. It seemed like an impossible feat, but what if J.T. was right, and this girl could be my future?
“Nikki was it for me, man.” He swiped a hand over his mouth and the diamonds in his wedding band caught the overhead light. “I think I knew that from the first time I saw her.”
I thought about the first time I saw Charli. That visceral reaction that made me want to hunt her down. “I know what that’s like.” I cleared my throat. “Acting on instinct, even though there’s this voice in your head screaming at you to back the hell off, you can’t.”
J.T. nodded. “Exactly. If that’s the way you felt with Charli, you can’t ignore it. Trust me, I know. I let Nikki go. I thought I was doing her a favor. Turns out all I was doing was making both of us miserable.”
“What made you decide to go for it?”
“My brother died.” He closed his eyes briefly. “He was in the military. With us one day, gone the next. Made me realize life was too short to keep making bonehead mistakes, so when Nikki came home with Ty to attend the service, I knew I had to quit chasin’ tale and drop to one knee, beg that girl to marry me.”
J.T.’s brother, Ty McCall, was country music royalty. He’d just retired after nearly four decades commanding the stage, but he’d left big footsteps for the rest of us to follow.
J.T.’s story resonated, but I’d already dropped to one knee with a ring in hand three times too many. I couldn’t see myself doing that ever again.
Sky made her way to the table and J.T. stood to give her a hug. “You were great tonight, sugar. You’re welcome back here anytime.” He winked. “But you’ll probably be too big to play this place soon.”
“I’ll never get too big for Jimmy’s,” she said, squeezing J.T.’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t be going out on tour at all if it weren’t for people like you giving me a chance. Don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”
That’s what I liked about Sky. She was sweet and humble. She didn’t forget where she’d come from or whose shoulders she’d stood on to get where she was. I wish Archer could get to know her as well as I had. I knew he’d see how special she was, that she was worth taking a chance on, even when his fear tried to paralyze him.
“You’re sweet,” J.T. said, squeezing her hand. “Well, it was nice catching up, Dade.” He looked me in the eye. “Think about what I said, okay? And if you ever need to talk, call or pass by.”
“Thanks, man.” I shook his hand. “I appreciate that.”
Sky watched him walk away before sitting down across from me. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?”
“No.”
I watched J.T. check in with his manager before heading towards the door. He was probably anxious to get home to his wife. Me? I’d be going home to an empty bed again. Maybe J.T. was right. His strategy had worked a hell of a lot better than mine had, but the thought of taking another risk like that still scared the hell out of me.
“Archer’s friend is still working,” Sky said, eyeing the waitress. “He comin’ back to pick her up?”
“Why?” I smirked. “You jealous?”
“I don’t get jealous,” she snapped. “Especially not over asshole’s like that.”
“You wanna talk about it? Archer’s a good friend. I might be able to give you some insight, help you put this thing to rest once and for all.” Not that I was the guy any of my friends would come to for relationship advice.
“I know I screwed up.” She raked her hand through her long hair, holding it off her face. “I bailed on him instead of sticking around to talk, but honestly, I thought I was doing him a favor.”
“How so?”
“He told me one-night stands are more his thing. He doesn’t do relationships, right?”
“Not usually.” Archer and I went way back, and he rarely broke his three-date rule with anyone. “Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have been different with you.”
She raised an arched brow. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“I don’t know for sure.” I looked her in the eye. “And now… neither do you.”
I felt shitty for calling my friend out for the mistakes she’d made when mine were so much worse. Still, she needed someone to remind her that she’d have to woman up if she and Archer were ever going to find a way to work together. And for the sake of her career, I really hoped they could call a truce.
