Captains

Chapter 8

Tuesday and the beginning of Wednesday go by uneventful, of course that is until Rider Calloway.

When I get home from practice on Wednesday, I take a quick shower, then put on my favorite pair of Nike Sweatpants, and my University of Florida sweatshirt, then I pull my hair into a very messy bun. As soon as I sit down on my bed, thinking Rider blew me off, I hear my dad yell up the stairs.

"Sterling! Your boyfriend's here!"

I hurry down the steps, and glare at my dad. "Obviously he's not my boyfriend, Dad." I roll my eyes, and grab Rider's wrist. He waves at my parents.

"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Emory!"

We get up to my room, and I close the door and push him toward the desk. I plop down on my white bed. "What do we have to study for? Actually never mind. I have homework to do. Tell me if you need help." But I don't give him the chance to respond. I plug my iPhone into my speaker system, and Scotty McCreery comes on. Rider looks at me with amusement, but doesn't say anything. As the song plays, Rider quietly sings along.

"The trouble with girls is they're a mystery. Something about 'em puzzles me. Spend my whole life, trying to figure out, what them girls are all about. The trouble with girls is they're so dang pretty. Everything about 'em does something to me but I guess that's the way it's supposed to be." By the time he the chorus comes around, I'm blatantly staring at him. His voice is completely mesmerizing.

"They smile, that smile. They bat, those eyes. They steal you with hello. They kill you with goodbye. They hook you with one touch. And you can't break free. Yeah the trouble with girls, is that nobody loves trouble as much as me." He looks at me, and chuckles softly to himself.

"They're sugar and spice and angel wings. They're hell on wheels in tight blue jeans. Summer nights, down by the lake, an old memory that you can't shake. They're so hard to find yet they're so many of 'em. The way that you hate that you already love 'em. But I guess that's the way it's supposed to be. They smile that smile. They bat those eyes. They steal you with hello. They kill you with goodbye. They hook you with one touch. And you can't break free. Yeah the trouble with girls, is nobody loves trouble as much as me. The way they hold you out on the dance floor. The way they ride in the middle of your truck. The way they give you a kiss at the front door, leave you wishing you could've gone up. And just as you walk away, you hear that sweet voice say. Stay."

Through the rest of the song, I'm completely tranced. When it finally goes off, and the next song comes on, he looks at me.

"What?"

"Your voice."

"What about it?"

"It's wonderful."

He chuckles. "I don't know about that. But thanks."

I just look at him. He snaps his fingers in front of my face. "Man, Sterling. If I had known that's all it took for you to look at me like that, I would have done this so much earlier." He smirks.

That pulls me out of my trance. "Shut the hell up." I push him.

He just laughs, and grabs the guitar that is sitting next to my bed. "You play?" He asks me.

"Yeah. A little. I haven't been able to take it too far because I've taught myself."

"That's good of you though. I know it's hard. Can you play anything?"

"Well yeah. I can play some things." I take the guitar from him, and make sure it's tuned. Then I pick at the strings and start to sing.

"I drove by all the places we used to hang out getting wasted. I thought about our last kiss, how it felt, the way you tasted. And even though your friends tell me you're doing fine." I start.