Page 45 of Everything In Between

THIRTY-EIGHT

jersey

The rest of the drive passes uneventfully.

Hayes flips on a random playlist on his phone and we play a game where we each take turns guessing the name of the song.

Bonus points if we can name the artist too.

I hold my own on the pop songs, but Hayes has me beat by a long shot when it comes to the alternative and rock genres.

Some of his guesses on the country songs have me laughing so hard the muscles in my abdomen start to hurt.

Time flies by and soon we’re pulling off the highway and driving over the long bridge into the town Hayes tells me is called Minocqua. My stomach rumbles when we drive past the sign, indicating our arrival.

“Hungry?” Hayes asks with a sideways smirk.

“Maybe a little.” My cheeks flush.

“I know a place that has crazy good food. It’s a hole-in-the-wall. You up to checking it out?” He glances over at me when we’ve stopped at a red light.

Reaching behind me, I dig around in my bag and pull out a hat. Settling it on my head, I fluff my dark hair around my shoulders and then give Hayes a smile.

“Let’s do it.”

A few minutes later, Hayes is parking the car in a somewhat empty parking lot, but I suppose it’s still early in the day. The neon sign on the outside reads “Red Zone: Sports Bar and Grille.”

Hayes scoops up Periwinkle and her little dog bed, ignoring my confusion and giving me a wink.

Together we walk into the dimly lit bar and I look around, taking in my surroundings.

Right away I’m met with the sight of the long bar, an impressive display of shiny bottles of liquors and spirits lined up in a tier illuminated by a back light.

There’s a shorter, heavyset man standing behind the bar who saunters over as soon as we walk in, tipping his chin up at us as we enter. He lays out two small cocktail napkins in front of two empty seats and then braces his hands against the bar.

“Well, as my eyes deceive me, if it isn’t our own hometown superstar back to grace us with his presence.”

Hayes steps forward and extends his free hand, Peri still relaxing in his other arm. He’s holding her like a football, which is endearing. The bartender shakes his hand, a broad grin on his face. “Good to see you, man.”

“Good to have you back, Hayes. We’ve missed you here. And who is this beauty you’ve brought along? She your lady?”

Hayes’s whole face lights up. “She sure is. Jersey, this is Mickey. Mickey, this is my girlfriend, Jersey.”

Mickey gives me a speculative stare, one eye narrowing slightly. “She looks a little fancy for our small town, don’t ya think?”

I peer down at my clothes, not feeling fancy at all. I’ve been traveling all day. My leggings have a smear of whip cream on the front of them, my shirt is all rumpled, and underneath my hat, my hair looks like I haven’t washed it in a week.

“I think she looks perfect,” Hayes says back. “Mind if I let Peri hang out in your office?”

Mickey waves his hand toward the couches by the window. “You can put her over there, she’s fine. It’s not busy today, anyway.”

“Thanks, Mickey.” Hayes shoots me another fond wink. The appreciation in his gaze sends a shiver of desire down my spine. If we weren’t here in public, I’d kiss him silly.

But I have plenty of time do that.

“This is a great place you have,” I say when Hayes walks away, looking around the bar again.

Televisions are mounted everywhere my eyes fall, different sports events playing on the screens.

There’s the main bar which Mickey is standing behind and then another separate bar against the far back wall.

A few sitting areas are established in front of the bigger televisions, L-shaped couches positioned for perfect viewing.

Away from the bars and the seating areas there are a handful of high-top tables—plenty of areas to station while watching favorite sports teams dominate on the screens.

“You a big sports fan?” Mickey asks me. He must have grabbed Hayes a drink while I was perusing the bar. He slides the pint glass to Hayes, making sure not to spill any of the foam over the side. “Whatcha drinking, darlin’?”

“I’ll do a vodka tonic, please,” I respond, then segue back to his first question. Giving Hayes a sideways smirk, I say, “I am now.”

Mickey chuckles as he prepares my drink and slides it to me. “She’s a keeper.”

“Don’t I know it.” Hayes sets his glass down from taking a sip. “Jersey is a singer.”

I raise an eyebrow at him, but he gives me a shrug in response. I glance around the bar again. There’re only one or two other patrons here in the whole bar. And given the demographic, I doubt they’ve never heard my name.

“Really?” Mickey says, raising a brow with interest. “Preston and I have talked about maybe starting up a live music night. We might need to get you up on the stage.”

“You’d have quite the crowd if you got her in front of a microphone,” Hayes says, fighting off the amusement in his voice. “She’s part of the big leagues.”

Mickey tilts his head and observes me again. “You know I thought you were familiar. What’d you say your name was again?”

“Jersey Matthews.”

“Well, I’ll be.” He turns away from me and puts his hand up to his mouth, cupping around his lips. “Hey, Preston! Come out here for a sec!”

A taller, lankier man pushes his way through a set of heavy black curtains hiding what I assume to be the kitchen from view. He walks over to us with his head tilted curiously, but his expression lightens when he sees Hayes standing there.

“What’s up, man?” His voice is deeper than I expect it to be. He goes for a fist bump, which Hayes eagerly returns. “Long time, no see.”

“No kidding. How’ve you been, Pres?”

“Nothing exciting happening over here. You know how it is.” Preston shrugs his shoulders jovially. His eyes fall on me and he blinks a few times in surprise. “You’re Jersey Matthews.”

I laugh. “In the flesh.”

Preston holds a hand out for me to shake and I return the gesture. “My daughter loves you. She’s going to lose her mind when she finds out you were here in our bar.”

My heart warms and my lips curve into a smile. “What’s her name?”

“Chloe,” Preston responds, a proud expression on his face. “She’s fourteen.”

“I’d be happy to sign something for her or take a picture with you.”

“We’ll be here for a few days,” Hayes chimes in, watching me closely as he speaks to Preston. “Maybe you could bring her by to meet Jersey.”

I nod at Preston in agreement. “Yes, I would love to meet her.”

“Really?” Preston asks, hopefully. “She would be over the moon.”

I grin. “Yes, please.”

“But we’re trying to keep our stay on the down low, guys, you understand?” Hayes asks Mickey and Preston.

The two of them share a look and then nod solemnly. “Say no more. We’ve got you covered,” Mickey says, sliding me a refill of the drink I’ve polished off. “We’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you need anything else. Me and Pres have a bet to settle.”

Preston rolls his eyes then explains. “Tonight’s our coaster Olympics rematch.”

My interest piques. “Coaster Olympics?”

“On slow days, we create some sort of competition with the coasters.” Mickey holds up a cardboard coaster with the Red Zone: Bar and Grille logo on it. “Preston’s whooped me the last few events, so I’ve got to get back in the game.”

I glance at Hayes, shaking his head in amusement. “Now this is something I think I have to see.”

Preston and Mickey share another look and then Mickey rubs his hands together in front of him. “What’s on the docket today, Pres? Got anything we can play with them too?”

Preston smirks and develops a sneaky glint in his eye. “You already know I do.”

Preston explains the game and we dive right into competition.

He calls it “vacuum” where the goal of the game is to pass the coaster around using the suction from our lips. Whoever is the last one standing—the only person not to drop the coaster—wins the figurative gold medal.

Not even ten minutes later, I find myself laughing hysterically as Hayes and Preston take their turns trying to pass the coaster from one to another. Hayes is to my left and I have Mickey on my right, Preston positioned across from me in the circle.

I clap my hand over my mouth, giggling as Hayes tries to pass the coaster to Preston. Hayes is currently doing a great job of keeping the coaster suctioned to his lips and Preston is trying to take it from him. He purses his lips and goes in for the hand off.

There’s something far too hilarious about the sight of Hayes and Preston mouth-to-mouth with only a coaster between them.

Preston manages to take the coaster and fist pumps the air with both hands victoriously. Two seconds later, he loses his hold on the coaster and it falls to the floor.

He looks at it dismally. “No gold medal for me.”

Hayes reigns victorious at the vacuum game, and I manage to best the three men at the flipping game before we decide to call it on the competition.

I can’t recall a time I’ve had this much fun at a bar.

Hayes and I eventually drag ourselves out of the bar a few hours later after some delicious smash burgers and a few more drinks.

I’m still laughing to myself, thinking about how much fun we had with Mickey and Preston, as we make our way to the truck.

Hayes has his arm wrapped around my shoulders and he holds me tightly to his side.

I’m carrying Peri’s fluffy bed in my free hand while she’s content to be a football in Hayes’s arms again.

“That was so much fun. Thank you for bringing me to meet them,” I say, leaning into Hayes even more. My heart and my belly both are fully satisfied.

He presses a kiss to my hair and unlocks the truck, opening the passenger side door for me to slide into my seat. After I’m settled, he leans in a bit, kissing me properly on the lips.

When he pulls away, he says, “I’m glad you had a good time. They’re never boring, that’s for sure.”

I lean my head against the headrest and grin. “Can we come back again while we’re here? I still need to meet Preston’s daughter, too.”

“You really wouldn’t mind doing that?” Hayes asks. “I know I kind of put you on the spot. If you don’t want to open up that kind of attention, you don’t have to. Preston will understand.”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t mind at all. I really do love getting to meet fans. It’s when there’s a ton of them, that it can get a little crazy. But if it’s only Preston’s daughter or a few others, it would be totally okay.”

Hayes’s expression softens. “I’ll let him know.”

“So, how about you show me this lake house now?”