Nash leans over me to get a better look, and I try and keep both hands on the wheel instead of putting one on her thigh like I’m dying to.
“They say most of Texas has them, but I have no memory of seeing them there. Only in Wisconsin. They make summer evenings feel whimsical, almost like a movie.”
“You must spend too much time in the city then. This is small-town charm.”
She looks up at me then with softness in her eyes. “There are lots of things I find charming about this small town.”
God, I hope this weekend never ends. I hope we can stay in Wisconsin forever, frozen in time… Because we’ll never go home where she’ll inevitably tell me she’s moving out. I’ll make a deal with the devil right now. I’d give him my future Super Bowl ring in exchange for being able to freeze time and stay here in the nice weather and the loving embrace of Nashville Green.
But somehow, I don’t think the devil is all that interested in football.
Chapter Fifty-Two
NASH
The charm of small-town life I had a taste of last night is immediately lost on me when I see the blue and red lights flickering behind us. I look at the side mirror from my spot in the passenger seat and see a county cop behind us.
“Ah, fuck,” Wyatt curses. “Damn townie cops don’t have anything better to do than pull people over on Main Street.” When he says MainStreet, he means it. One street through the town is their main road. You can find everything here from the local dive—Tina’s—to the bank, the Pig Wig, the Poblocki Bakery, the new Kwik Trip, and a Pizza Ranch… and that’s basically it.
We must look like quite the sight, two giant human beings dressed in rehearsal dinner finery riding through town in a blue 1980 Chevy pickup. Wyatt puts the truck in park on the shoulder as he grumbles, “I’m like ten feet from where the speed limit picks up.” He points at a sign right ahead of us where, sure enough, the speed limit dramatically increases as you leave the town proper and move onto the country roads.
He checks his mirror, sees the cop coming, and quicklypulls out his license and insurance. He rolls down the window and then replaces his hands on the steering wheel.
The officer who approaches us is young, and I have to bite back a smile when I get a good look at his pornstache. “Good afternoon, sir. Do you know why I’ve pulled you over today?”
I know better than to answer that question, but Wyatt is driving, and this is his truck, so it’s his problem. He turns to look at the officer who is keeping to the back side of the driver’s window. “No, sir, I–” he starts.
“Well, I’ll be damned. Is that you, Vandy?”
I can see him squint, trying to recognize the person under the hat and the ’stache. “Liam?”
The cop, obviously Liam, points at himself. “Yeah, it is! What are you doing in town? Thought you were down in Texas.”
“I’m here for Henry’s wedding.”
“No, shit! That’s great. Tell everyone I say hello.” He peeks around Wyatt, not easy to do with his size, and spots me. “And who is this cool drink of water? You weren’t going to introduce me?” Up until this point I’ve just been sitting here quietly hoping that we don’t get a ticket. I’m a little surprised to be brought into this conversation, but I’m less surprised that the cop who pulled us over knows Wyatt.
“Nash, this is Liam, we went to high school together. Liam, this is my girlfriend Nash.” Hearing that word fall from his mouth feels like a punch in the gut. We’re so close to this being real if either of us could get our heads out of our asses. He didn’t have to introduce me to his parents, I’d already met them as this-is-my-friend-Nash. It hits me then that we’re on our way to a restaurant full of people whom I’ve never met and I’m going to hear Wyatt say those words all night.You know what, it might be good that Charlie and Barb Vandergriff aremaking us sleep in separate rooms.They might be on to something. I feel like I’m twenty-seven going on seventeen with how much I enjoyed last night, and how easy it is to turn my thoughts in that direction.
I do a little wave at Liam. “Nice to meet you.”
“Didn’t know ol’ Wyatt had a girlfriend. Would have been the talk of the town seeing as he’s Poblocki’s most eligible bachelor. Hell, he might be all of Wisconsin’s most eligible bachelor,” Liam jokes and Wyatt goes a handsome shade of red.
“Knock it off,” he says, but he’s smiling.
“It’s nothing, man.” In a split second, Liam seems to remember the circumstances of this reunion and pulls on what I assume is his lawman face. “I pulled you over for doing forty in a thirty-five.” Wyatt opens his mouth to argue, but Liam keeps going. “I know you can see the sign for the speed increase from here, but you can’t hit the gas until you pass it. You grew up here, you should know that.”
Wyatt nods. “I understand.”
I hold my breath waiting for Liam to decide if he’s going to write us a ticket or not. “I’ll just give you a warning today, since I know you’ve been gone a while and are just getting back into the swing of things, but another guy on the squad may not next time. Some dudes get their rocks off giving guys like you tickets. So be careful.” He leans back around Wyatt to look at me. “Nice to meet you, Nash. Enjoy your time in Wisco.”
I smile back. “I definitely will. Thank you.”
Liam heads back to his cruiser, and Wyatt rolls up the window. “Liam is very charming,” I say.
“Yeah, yeah,” Wyatt replies as he cranks the AC back up.
“I haven’t met many of your high school friends.” I watchhim as he pulls us off the shoulder and back onto the main road. I wonder what kind of people Wyatt hung out with in school? Other jocks, I assume. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.