Smokin Gun

Flashback: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Part I

Stephanie's POV

October 2016

I heard the pounding on my front door and hurried down the hall with a grin on my face. Sylo lifted his head off the couch giving me a crazy look as I ran through the living room to the foyer. I flung the door opened and was tackled by the goofy ass blonde at my door.

"Good lord Steph!" Caroline said with a laugh hugging me tight. "It's been too damn long."

"Caroline," I said with a laugh pulling back. "It's only been a little over a month."

"I know," she said with a grin. "So, the boys are at LeClaire's, and Luke is in Kansas hunting. What do y'all have going on?"

"I'm supposed to be grading papers since there was an away football game tonight," I said. "Giant is at the farm, Ashley is in Valdosta, and B is in Illinois with Michael Lee hunting."

"Soooo...." Caroline drawled with an evil grin pulling a bottle of tequila out of her purse. "There's no one around to stop us if we have shenanigans?"

"Nooppppeeee...." I drawled giving her an equally as evil grin. I motioned for Sylo to come here and reached for my phone, keys, and wallet off the table. "Let's go."

"Where to?" Caroline asked after we climbed into my Explorer and I backed out of my driveway as she flipped radio stations. Her phone lit up and she showed me the picture Luke had sent her of Jason half asleep in the deer stand with Willie leaning over him with shaving cream. "I swear all they do is sleep, eat, and prank each other."

"At least they don't spend half the time thinking of names for the deer," I said rolling my eyes as she started laughing. "Maverick, Pitchfork, oh and my personal favorite Snowfork."

Caroline let out a loud snort as she opened the bottle of tequila as I sped out of town. She leaned closer to me and snapped a picture of the two of us to send to Luke. She turned the radio up and used the bottle as a microphone to sing along with Brett Eldredge.

I looked in the rearview mirror at Sylo in the back seat and he had the funniest look on his face. Like.. oohhhshiiiitttt.. you two are gonna cause so much trouble. I snickered as I turned in Brantley's driveway, rolling down my window to punch in the code for the gates. I roared up the darkening driveway and hit the button on my visor to open the garage pulling in to park.

"Wait right here," I told Caroline as I turned off my Explorer. I climbed out and opened the back to let Sylo out. He followed me into the house as I walked into the kitchen. I glanced around the counter of the kitchen until I found what I was looking for with a grin. Sylo sat at my feet as I pulled the set of keys out of the bowl. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him pointing my finger.

"I'll give you an extra bone if you don't tell Daddy what we did," I said then mentally chided myself for having a discussion with Sylo. I stood on my tip toes and pulled a couple of his favorite snacks out of the cabinet and a new rawhide bone.

He gave me a woof before snatching the bone and heading to his bed. I palmed the keys and headed back to the garage shaking them at Caroline as she climbed out of my car. She looked at the keys in my hand then over at the Cougar, then back again.

"Stephanie Lynn," she hissed and took a big shot of tequila making the sign of the cross. "That's what we came over for? I figured it was to chill on the back deck. He's gonna kill you. Like, he's gonna beat your ass and not in a fun way."

"Pffttt......" I scoffed and grabbed my phone and purse then headed to the drivers seat of the Cougar climbing in. Caroline jumped in the passenger seat after grabbing her phone. I started her up with a wide grin.

"B's in Illinois with spotty cell reception. He'll never know. We'll take a quick spin around town because I haven't been able to drive it since he got it back from the shop during the video shoot. I only got pulled over twice back in the day. Here's my phone order us some pizza and well get it while we are out."

Caroline dialed the number putting our order in as I backed out of the garage. Oh I would have hell to pay when he found out I thought as a wide grin spread across my face. I'd think of something to throw him off from being too mad at me. I stopped at the end of the driveway as Caroline hung up the phone and gave me a grin.

"Ready?" I asked with a wink turning out on the road to head back into Jefferson.

"Hell yes!" Caroline said and took another swig of tequila. "Punch it!"

"Yes mam," I said with a laugh and pressed my foot hard on the gas making the engine roar.

"Yep," Caroline cackled as I sped down the road. "I can see why he loves this car."

"One of the reasons," I said giving her a naughty wink and a wide smile. Caroline reached over and hit my arm with a laugh.

"Really??" she asked wiggling her eyebrows at me.

"Noooo," I said laughing as I took a right on two wheels. Shit, I needed to slow it down a little because Chris was on duty tonight and he would rat my ass out to Brantley in a heartbeat. "But that truck has been broken in properly. In several different ways. Front seat, backseat, truck bed, oh oh and up against it!"

"Ehh.." Caroline said with an evil grin. "The new tour bus is always a fun one."

I giggled and high fived her. Yea, this last bus had been a lot of fun, especially the counter.