Page 51 of A Country Kind Of Love

Peyton almost chokes on the pizza. “Oh.” Thank god for the napkin; she almost projectile coughed bits of pizza crust all over Cleo.

“Isthat okay?”

“Uh huh.” Peyton wipes at the corners of her mouth, buying a second to find some composure. “It’s just not finishedthat’s all.”

“I know; I was just so excited. I haven’t stopped singing it since you played it for me, and I just wanted to gauge the crowd’s reaction.”

Cleo stuffs the remainder of the crust in her mouth leaving a small dot of tomato base on the edge of her lip. Normally that would give Peyton the ick. She remembers how Chloe used to drown every savoury food item in ketchup. Nine times out of ten a blob would remain somewhere within the region of her mouth. God, that really did give her the ick; maybe Chloe wasn’t right for her after all, because she could lean forwards and lick it from Cleo’s lip without hesitation. If she wasn’t about to hyperventilate that is.

Shit. Peyton’s smile is shaky. She drops eye contact and focuses intently on a small piece of cheese.

“I think I have an idea for the second verse too.”Cleo beams.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I wrote it in my notes earlier today. I can play it for you tomorrow if you like?”

“Sure,” Peyton says through gritted teeth.

How the hell are you going to get out of this one?How is she supposed to tell Cleo that a music producer made her record the song she’d promised to her? How doesthat happen?

She didn’t sell her song to Marvin though, did she? No, that is absolutely not what happened, but what if ithurts Cleo?

“How was it tonight by the way?” Cleo asks.

“Tonight?” Peyton’s thrown. She’s stalling.

“Yeah, at the recording studio.”

“Erm...”Tell her.“Good. It went really good.”

She opens her mouth again.Just say it.

Cleo smiles genuinely. “I love spending time with you.”

Fuck.

The moment has gone, and she hates herself for sayingnothing.

?

Jesse holds the door open to Marvin’s place of business; he’s extremely chivalrous. Peyton’s still surprised he doesn’t have a girlfriend. He cleans up after himself, he smells nice, he makes an unbelievable bacon sandwich, he can sing, and he knows all the best places to eat. He’s the complete package if you’re into that sort of thing; by that she means men. Plus, Peyton likes the fact he isn’t the type of guy that says, “what a waste” when they find out an attractivegirl is gay.

Shehatesthat guy.

“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?”Peyton asks.

“I’m too handsome, too smart, and too perfect. I’m a crime against humanity. There should be limits, but I think God just removed them when he made me. I can be quite intimidating.” He smirks as he holds the second door open. How many doors are in this studio? She doesn’t remember this many.

“You forgot to add modest as well.”

“Oh yeah.” Jesse laughs.

“Thank you for coming with me. You didn’t have to.”

“I’m a musician what else do I have to do on a Tuesday afternoon other than go for drinks on Broadway or watch reruns ofThe Simpsons.” He shrugs it off, but Peyton knows he cancelled plans with one of his bandmates to be there for her.

The heat outside is bearable. The day before saw temperatures soar above ninety degrees, but the air-conditioned apartment had been her hangover comfort that day. A couple of post-gig late nights with Cleo and she can feel herself turning as nocturnal as an owl.