We didn’t talk the rest of the way upward. Once we hit the clearing, the valley below appeared. The pines towered in between the white oak trees, covering the mountain sides with varying shades of green. At the bottom of the valley, a small dirt road cut through the trees and up the other side. ATV engines revved and cut through the birds singing.
I took off my pack and sat on a small patch of grass and rock just off the trail with the best view. It was close enough to the edge of a drop off, but far enough away that one bad step wouldn’t send either one of us down the steep incline of the cliff. Dylan joined me a few moments later. We continued our silence as I unpacked my lunch and he did the same. But he didn’t eat right away.
“This is beautiful,” he said. The awe in his voice almost eased some of the tension in my chest.
“It’s one of my favorite hikes. It’s not too hard but not too easy either.” I drank half a bottle of water. “I love the Ozarks.”
“So why leave?” Dylan stared at the valley as he ate. “Why go to Nashville?”
“Or New York? Or L.A.?” I added because I hadn’t decided on a destination yet. “To get discovered. I’m serious about music. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do.”
“You can do that here, you know,” he said, crumbling up his plastic bag and shoving it back into the back. “You don’t have to be in Nashville or New York or L.A. to get a deal.”
“You live in L.A.,” I said, pointing out the obvious.
“Technically, I live in Branson right now.” He finally turned to face me. “It doesn’t matter where you live, Cam. You can travel. And this place, it’s ... kind of amazing. And I am sorry for treating you the way I did. If I knew it would bother you that much, I never would’ve flirted with that girl. It was ... it was just a way to blow off steam in my own way.”
Our gazes locked. I swallowed as a warmth not from the sun filled my chest and slid down my body. My breath hitched in my throat. I wanted to touch him, but he didn’t want that. I repeated it multiple times in my head. He doesn’t want that with me.
I broke his stare and gazed over the valley. The Ozarks were amazing. There was always something to do outside. And Branson was amazing. I loved going to the shows and Silver Dollar City. But I wasn’t going to be discovered here, even if Dylan said it was possible. It didn’t feel like it. I needed to branch out. I needed to move on.
Even if part of me really didn’t want to.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dylan drove me back to my place. He changed the radio to a country station. Whenever I sang along, he told me to sing it as loud as I could, to project my voice. When “Whiskey Lullaby” came on, he sang Brad Paisley’s part and I sang the Alison Krauss lyrics. He parked on the street but didn’t turn off the radio. I kept singing, staring out the windshield until the chorus came again, then I turned toward him. We harmonized together so perfectly. The raw emotion of the song mixed with the tension in the small space of his car. My heart raced twice as fast as the beat of the slow song. The last la-las were acapella and our voices blended so seamlessly that I wasn’t sure where mine ended and his began. When the song finished, Dylan turned off the engine. I swallowed hard as he leaned toward me.
Then his eyebrows tightened.
“Who’s that?” he said, pointing around me toward the front of my house.
I glanced over my shoulder to the small form sitting on the step in front of my house. I pressed my lips together and cringed. I so wasn’t ready for this. Iris told me to leave her alone. Apparently, that was a one-way street. “Miranda.”
“Ah. Rip off the Band-Aid.” He pushed his sunglasses up on his nose and rested his head on his seat and his elbow on the car door. Mr. Casual once again. “Talk to her, then grab that guitar you told me about. I want to go over some stuff and maybe record something back at my place.”
“Record?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got an idea,” he said with a grin. “And I’ll be here if you need me for anything else.”
“Why don’t you just come in?” My voice sounded fine to my ears, but it felt so small in my chest. Maybe if he was with me, Miranda wouldn’t go all psycho. “I’d like to take a quick shower.”
His gaze snapped to mine. “I’ve got a Jacuzzi tub.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.” He lowered his sunglass and raised his eyebrows. “And a hot tub. I could use a good soak after that physical activity.”
The way he said ‘physical activity’ sent shivers down my spine. I pictured him in a hot tub. It didn’t take long before my mind went to making out with Dylan in said hot tub. I felt a different kind of sweat beading on my skin. “Okay. You sure you don’t want to come in?”
He nodded toward Miranda. “You need to handle this without me hanging over your shoulder.”
I reached for the door handle, opening my mouth to ask one more time, but Dylan wasn’t having it.
“Go, Cameron.”
I bit my lip and opened the door. Delaying it wasn’t going to change anything. Miranda watched every move I made. I grabbed the packs from the backseat. Slinging them over my shoulder, I walked toward my friend. Miranda had been there for me after Dad’s stroke. She’d given me a safe haven. When I was dumped right before junior prom, Miranda jumped in to be my ‘date’.
She didn’t stand when I stopped in front of her. Her foot dragged over
