I laughed dryly. “I’ve never had beer before.”
His eyes expanded. “Never? How the hell are you enjoying life right now? Didn’t you say you’re twenty-one?”
“Yes.”
“When did you turn twenty-one?” he asked, leading the way toward a decorated table with wide silver pails on top.
“January fourteenth.”
“It’s June and you’ve never had a beer before? I know Ben drinks them. You’ve never tried to sneak one?”
“Nope,” I said, popping my lips.
“I guess that’s another thing to change tonight.” Gage dug into the wide pail filled with ice and pulled out two beers. Uncapping them, he handed one to me before taking a sip of his.
I sniffed it and my nose pinched. “Smells like piss.”
He laughed. “Tastes like heaven. Try it.”
I stared at my bottle for a second before lifting the rim to my lips. It tasted bland at first, but as I took a few more sips, it wasn’t so bad. It cooled me down after the intense lawn mower race that’d taken place seconds ago.
“See,” Gage said, lifting his bottle, “not so bad right?”
“It’s okay.” I smiled at him before turning to face the crowd, and for once I didn’t feel out of place. The women there had on the same kind of gingham dresses. Most of them wore their hair in pigtails just like mine, but they had on tons of makeup. The men were dressed like Gage—plaid button-up shirts, cowboy boots, and a hat to match. On Gage, it was sexy as hell. Who knew the country-boy style could look so good on him? I wanted to devour him even more, if that were humanly possible.
“All righty!” a woman yelled through a microphone from the DJ stand. “Round those partners up ‘cause the square dancing is about to begin. Ladies, get pretty. Fellas, get sexy. It’s time to have a ball!”
I looked at Gage nervously, biting my lip. “How am I supposed to know what to do?” I asked.
“I’ll lead you.” He grabbed my bottle and set it on the table, leading me out onto the dance floor. “Just listen to the calls,” he murmured. Fiddles started playing and I became more and more nervous. A hand moved in my peripheral and I looked down at it.
“G’evening again, lil’ lady,” the familiar deep voice said. I looked up and sure enough it was Darrell. “Lookin’ mighty worried. Don’t sweat it. After the first try, it gets easier.”
The fiddles grew louder as a man yelled through the mic to call everyone in for the last time. Unease consumed me, but as Gage pressed a hand against the small of my back and I looked up at him, I calmed down a bit. “It’s not so bad,” he said, winking. “Trust me.”
“All right, go ahead and give a bow to ya partner,” the man at the mic called. Gage’s hand was still in mine and he bowed, tipping his hat down a little. Giggling, I bowed back. “Okay, now bow to the other.”
I looked at Darrell who bowed at the same time as me. Okay, it was pretty easy so far. “Now join hands and circle around. Gone ‘head, take it on ‘round,” the man sang.
The music picked up and blared through the speakers and Gage moved left while I moved with him. Our hands were still glued together and the room shifted with each step I took. Okay. Still easy.
“Swing that partner high and low!”
The spinning circle stopped and Gage came forward to hook his arm around my waist, the other holding up my hand. He spun in small circles, grinning at me. I placed my arm on top of his shoulder and laughed as he winked.
“Now all our ladies step to the middle, then back it on up. Now step back and let the gentleman take over.”
Gage released me and I turned around to step in the middle. I couldn’t help but smile even more because all the women were excited. I rushed back to Gage’s side before he stepped forward, tipping his hat at the man in front of him.
He came back and the man yelled, “Go promenade around the ring.” With that, Gage hung on to my waist and spun in circles again. Our free hands were clasped together in the air for the second time.
“Having fun?” he asked.
I nodded and then he lifted my arm to spin me in a quick three-sixty.
“Now join hands and swing it on ‘round.” We did as commanded. “Now promenade to cool it down.”
I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having doing a square dance. With Gage, it felt even more enjoyable. I wasn’t sure how, but he made me smile the entire time. I don’t think the smile ever left my glee-filled face.
The man told us to take a break after our fourth set and we laughed as we went for another round of beers. “I don’t know how I’ve missed out on this before,” I said before taking a gulp of my beer.
“Well, when you stay cooped up in your room that’s what happens,” Gage said, leaning against the wall. “You miss out on fun opportunities.”
“I have fun,” I argued.
He smirked. “Doing what exactly?”
“Drawing. Painting. Taking pictures.”
“So you’re really on the creative side?” he asked, amused.
“I am. I love art. I wanna make it my career.”
“Maybe you should take some pictures of the band. You could make a ton of money off them—you could even become a graphic designer for us. All you need is my word. I can hook it up for you.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t think I want my future in your hands.”
He laughed. “What, do you think I’d forget about hooking you up?”
“No… well, yeah,” I stated honestly.
Gage laughed again before downing his beer. “If there’s one thing I don’t fuck with, it’s someone’s future and career. You seem passionate about it. If you really want it, I can give it to you.” His eyes softened and then he looked from my eyes to my cleavage. “I mean that in more ways than one, though.”
“Stop.” I slapped his arm playfully. “We’re just friends. Remember?”
“Well, yeah. Only because that’s what you want. I can respect that, but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do more with your body if I were given permission.”
I smirked at him before taking another sip of beer. “I’d love to be a graphic designer for FireNine. I could create your next CD cover—maybe even the band’s T-shirts?”
“You could create a whole damn store for us if you want, Ellie.” He smirked. “I’m sure it would sell.”
I put down my beer, squaring my shoulders at Gage. He looked into my eyes, his eyebrows stitching as his lips pressed thin. “You’d really do that for me, Gage? Let me become a designer for you, I mean.”
“Is it something you’ll agree to keep doing?” he asked, leaning his shoulder against the wall and folding his arms. “‘Cause that’s what a career is all about. I don’t like quitters.”
“If I had an opportunity like that, I’d do my best to keep it.”
His right cheek lifted into a smirk as he studied my eyes. He was most likely trying to figure out if I was being serious. I was serious as hell. That was a dream job for me—to paint and draw and then see it as a final product. It was something I’d craved since I was a child.
“All right.” He sighed. “I’ll see what I can do. Of course, you’ll have to talk to Ben about it, too. He may know more people than me that could help you out a bit.”
“Oh my gosh! Really?” I squealed, grabbing his hands.
“Really.” He winked before tossing his empty beer bottle. “Wanna go for some fresh air?” he asked, cocking his head toward the exit.
I nodded quickly. I was excited. I could see in his eyes that he was being serious. I knew he joked around a lot and could be really irresponsible, but this was one thing I wanted to trust him with.
I hooked my arm through his and we stepped through the crowd to get outside. “You don’t find it weird that none of those people in there knew you?” I asked.
“Not really.” He shrugged. “Most of them are real down-to-earth country people. They’ll listen to nothing but the country genre. FireNine is more of a rock-slash-alternative kind of band—plus we’re just starting to become popular. Our music isn’t too hardcore or too soft. We’re, like, right in between.”
I nodded, my lips pressed together. “Makes sense.” We continued walking and silence crept up on us. There was one question that had been on my mind since his performance earlier and I had to get an answer. “Have you ever been in love before?” I blurted. Right after asking, my cheeks burned and I lowered my head a little.
Gage looked down at me, his eyes narrowed. “What makes you ask that?”
“Well… your song you sang earlier—the new one from the garage—you told me the other night that you write most of the songs. Did you write that one?”
He shrugged. “Yeah.”
“The lyrics seemed to be about a broken heart…” I trailed off as he looked at me, smirking. “Never mind.” I sighed, feeling completely idiotic for bringing it up.
“No, it’s cool.” He tucked his fingers into his back pockets. “I’ve never been in love before. It’s odd, though, how one would think it’s always a boyfriend or girlfriend who’s broken someone’s heart. Sometimes it’s the ones closest to us who can destroy us most. Sometimes it’s friends… family. It’s not always a romantic relationship that can leave us with a broken heart.”