Lyrics of a Small Town

“Shut up,” Rio said to him with a roll of his eyes.

I stepped around Saul so that I was standing beside him. “He’s telling the truth,” I said in his defense.

Drake let out a hoot of laughter. “Sure he is!”

Saul was silent. He didn’t find any of this amusing. He was still watching Rio.

Rio looked at me then and I could see the question in his eyes. If he wanted to tell them we thought we could be siblings, I didn’t mind. As long as he didn’t know the details for Hillya’s sake. I shrugged then nodded.

Saul turned to look at me and I smiled up at him. He didn’t return the smile. He seemed to be trying to read something into the situation that wasn’t there. As if he expected the worst and we were lying to him.

“Saul,” Rio called his name as he walked closer to the bottom of the steps. When Saul didn’t look at him but continued to study me, Rio further explained, “We are just friends and we are about ninety-nine percent sure we have the same dead father.”

Saul swung his gaze back to Rio then back to me. His eyes wide in disbelief. I understood that because I had felt the same way when Rio had told me about this. Now, I knew better. More than Rio, as a matter of fact.

I heard Drake say “No shit!” but I didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes on Saul.

“Seriously?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s one of those things Gran is orchestrating from her grave,” I told him.

“Damn,” Saul said under his breath.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“So Hendrix, you staying here because we are heading out. I got two sorority girls from Texas headed to the house in a few. Both like to give blow jobs.” This time it wasn’t Drake talking about blow jobs that stood out.

Hendrix?

Nineteen

Saul closed the door behind him and I stared at the cookies that I had left cooling while I tried to put this together. Drake had called Saul, Hendrix. Lily lived in the Hendrix IV.

“You didn’t know,” Saul said behind me.

I turned to look at him. “What is it I should know?” I asked him.

There was a small turn at the corner of his mouth and he looked like he wanted to laugh. “I knew you didn’t at first, but I thought you would have figured it out by now.” He looked pleased as he said it. “Damn, Henley if that doesn’t make me like you more. You gotta stop doing shit like this.”

“Is your last name Hendrix?” I asked him.

He nodded.

“How? Are you related to the Hendrix people or whoever owns the Hendrix stuff?”

Then he began to laugh. I wasn’t sure why this was funny. I was trying to figure this out.

“I am the Hendrix people, Henley. My father is Archer Hendrix, the CEO of Hendrix Corp.”

What? Was he joking? I studied his face to see if he was serious. Wasn’t the Hendrix Corp a massive chain worth billions of dollars? He drove a beat-up old truck and lived here. In this small town — the freaking Redneck Riviera.

“Your mom?” I asked, not sure what I was asking really. But wouldn’t the wife of Archer Hendrix live somewhere in a fabulous mansion?

“My parents divorced when I was fifteen. Mom’s addiction to drugs and alcohol was more than Dad wanted to deal with. He moved her here and I followed. Someone has to take care of her, but he didn’t care about that or her life. He and I aren’t close,” Saul explained.

I leaned back against the counter and crossed my arms over my chest. Today had been a day for revelations. I wasn’t sure how much more could be packed into one day.

“I stay out of the spotlight, but I have gotten into some things that the media or tabloids get a hold of… most girls recognize me from that.”

I looked up at him. “I don’t read or watch that kind of stuff. I prefer Netflix and books,” I told him.

He started laughing again and reached out and put his hand on my waist. “You keep making me fucking laugh and I may never leave,” he said.

When he was close to me like this and I could smell the sunshine on his skin, he was the scent of summer, it was hard to think of much else. Saul Hendrix was the best-looking man I had ever seen. Looking at him was very easy to do. But he was more than that and because of who he was, despite the messed-up life he had been dealt, I really, really liked him. Too much and far too quickly.

I would have to be careful about that. I’d only cared for one other boy and I had loved him. There had been no other boyfriends or dates. Just Will.