time?”
“Yeah, he was worried about hurting me. I knew he liked me and that night when he came over, we talked for a long time and we just clicked. He was nervous about taking my virginity because we weren’t even in a relationship. He tried to talk me into going out with him. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and I thought it was the right time to hand in my V-card, so we did it. He wanted to do it again a few days after the first time but I told him it’d been a one-time deal.”
I had a feeling this was so much more than just handing over her virginity to Kyler. “Did you like Ky back then?”
“He was cute, but I didn’t want to date the guy that would sleep with every girl in school if he could.”
“What about now?”
“What about it?”
“Harper, we just saw Kyler. There was no mistaking the look on his face when he saw you, and I saw the way that you were looking at him too. I’ve always known he had a thing for you but I didn’t realize you two had been together. So I’m asking, do you like him now?”
She laughed out loud at me. “Em give me a break! That boy has been living in California living it up, and sleeping with any piece of ass that walks in front of him. Kyler certainly still looks good, I’ll give him that! But no way, no how, would I ever get into a serious relationship with him. I don’t think he’s the type that wants to settle down. And frankly, I’m not so sure I am either.” She paused and a smile broke out across her face. “Well, that was until you just found out you’re pregnant and I’m going to be your baby’s Daddy-Momma.”
I shoved her shoulder and cracked up. We both leaned back against the bathtub and I laid my head on Harper’s shoulder. “Hey Harper?”
“Hmmm…?”
“Thanks for always being there for me. I love you.”
“I love you too Em. It’s going to be okay.”
“Hey Harper?”
“What?”
“For once your sex stories actually helped me out, so… thanks!”
She laughed and helped me off the bathroom floor.
I walked into the studio that I’d been working in for the past six years and my head instantly felt clearer. This studio had become my home away from home. When Kyler and I first moved out here to Los Angeles we hit up to all the record companies, trying to sell the songs we’d written. We finally got our big break when the band ‘Down Glory Road’ heard a recording and paid for the rights to the song. They ended up listening to—and subsequently purchasing—some of our other material, and now they kept Kyler and I on a retainer. We wrote the majority of their stuff, and fine tuned the music. The band was a great group, the record company treated us like kings, and we’d since sold several of our songs to artists in all sorts of music genres. Things had really taken off for us. We had a good life; more money than we could ever want writing everything from love songs to heavy metal. I was recently was asked if I could come up with something reggae but declined! That’s where I draw the line. If you wanted reggae then you needed to go find Bob Marley.
But all the success, the women, and even our new house, it meant nothing without Emilyn. I realized a long time ago that she was the missing piece in my life. I had thought about going back to Mountain Home and begging her to take me back about eighteen months after I moved away, but I’d heard from Michael that she was in a serious relationship with someone. Despite knowing that she’d had such a hard time after I left, I was glad that she’d found someone who made her happy. I hadn’t deserved her. At least the other man was smart enough to find her and hold on. Admittedly, when I found out that they were getting married I went through some serious shit. I’d partied my ass off and drank myself into oblivion. I wrote a lot of our darker songs; which had worked out great because they’d ended up selling really well. But it turned out I’d been a pretty shitty roommate and Ky had to give me a few slaps on the face and a ‘coming to