Nice Shot (John Luke Robertson Book 2)

Chapter 9

"How come you never showed me this place before?" I query, pushing my feet through multiple different flowers. A few are glowing, literally. They glow when the moon is out. Butterflies and fireflies- or as I like to call them, lightning bugs- dance through the plants and trees. Hanging above our heads are twinkling lights- as if the beautiful stars aren't enough.
"Because it took us two hours to get here," John Luke laughs, slipping an arm around my waist. I look up at him with a find smile. He's so romantic. It's kind of cliché.
He kisses the tip of my nose and wraps his other arm around me as well. I bury my face in his chest as his chin drops to the crown of my head. "I love you."
"I love you, too," I answer, feeling his soft kiss against my scalp. "Sometimes too much."
"There's no such thing as too much love for us, baby," John Luke whispers. I smile and remove my head from under his. He looks down, his chin tucking in. I lean on my tippy toes to kiss him. He kisses back with force and I smile. He kisses my teeth once more and steps back. "Come on." His large hand wraps around mine and he leads me to another small clearing. A giant rock rests in the middle. On it, carved with a smaller rock and written in sharpie are multiple names and hearts. I catch the names Sadie and Hunter with a 2014. Excuse me?
"What is this?"
"It's called the TMC's Rock. It stands for Teenage Memories Couple's Rock. It's where teenagers come as couples to write their names down. The whole state knows about it. They out their names and the years and then after high school, they come back to see if they turned out as a couple for longer than just their teenage years. It's fun for the teenagers to see which couples stayed together, like Russel and Sandra? They were seniors a few years ago and they wrote thir names here with the year 2011. They broke up in college. Tom and Lisa? 2012. They're still together and have eight kids- six are adopted." I stare down at the rock JL is describing.
"So, how long has this thing been around?" I question, tracing my fingers over the jagged edges.
"The oldest couple written down is, believe it or not, from 1957. Patsy and Charles." He points do the middle names with the date and a heart. My eyes widen.
"As in Patsy Cline and Charles Dick?" I exclaim. John Luke shrugs.
"No one knows but we assume. They lived in Virginia, but maybe they visited Louisiana sometimes. I don't know, really. It wasn't in the movie based on Patsy," John Luke hops onto the rock, but I keep reading. "There's also Tim and Faith over here. People say it's Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. It says 1997. They married in '97. Tim McGraw is from Louisiana, so it naked sense that he knew about it."
"Have you written on it yet?" I ask, searching for his name. "You and... Tulip?" (A/N if you don't remember Tulip, she's the girl JL dated from age thirteen to fifteen and her father showed up with a guy named Derek and Tulip had to marry Derek because it was already arranged and signatures were written because Tulip's father was wealthy and like a king where he loved and JL doesn't know where Tulip is cuz he hasn't seen her since we fifteenth birthday when her dad took her away.)
"No. I didn't even think about bringing her here when we were together. I have written on it," he smirks, reaching into his pocket and uncapping a black sharpie. "But I'm about to." He jumps off the rock. "Where do you want it?"
This if course takes me ten years, not literally. John Luke and I circle the rock like it's our prey. I have to find the perfect spot. And I do. It's on the back side of the rock, a large open space surrounded by hearts from the other couples. John Luke draws a big circle and I wonder what he's doing until I see the smaller circle in the middle and grasp onto his idea.
"A bullet," I say. "The back of a bullet." He smirks over his shoulder and writes my name on top of the small circle. He hands me the marker and I wrote his name beneath mine. It reads: Kaysie "Kay Anne"
20•14
John Luke "JL".
I smile at my boyfriend, capping the marker back. The year is written on either side of the small circle so that's what the dot sands for.
"Cute," JL comments, kissing my forehead.
"Me or the rock drawing of our names?" I question. He chuckles.
"Both."
A clap sounds in my ears, followed by more. I direct my attention to the edge of the clearing. I wish I didn't.
"Well, if it isn't Kaysie and John Luke."