Next Time Read Free Page A

waves.”
    “I don’t see matronly at all. I would define your style as elegant.”
    “You don’t think I’d look cooler with a mohawk and a teardrop tattoo on my cheek?” Ryann lowered her voice to a whisper. “Because that’s what I feel like inside.”
    “Hey, it’s what’s inside that counts,” Payton said as she took a drink.
    “I blast rap and club music in my car on the way to work and switch it to easy listening a block away from the school.”
    Payton laughed. “What other wild things do you do?”
    “That’s it,” Ryann said with a frown. “I’m afraid I’ve become a sedate adult. Mardi Gras, forget it, I prefer to be able to sit down in comfort and go to the bathroom when I want. Concerts make my ears ring. Now it’s just lazy Sundays and an occasional dinner out. The wildness of my youth has coalesced into a comfy spot on the sofa and a good glass of wine.”
    “When I’m feeling really frisky, I turn my songs into profane ditties. Like Ponkey the Donkey I mentioned earlier, that mule gets really nasty and starts spanking a turtle named Myrtle.”
    Ryann laughed so loudly that even Jana and Melanie turned and looked at them for a split second. Ryann wiped her eyes and asked, “Have you ever gotten your dirty songs mixed in with the children’s stuff?”
    “On purpose once. I have a studio in my house, so I’ll write and record the projects there, then I send them to Tex. This particular tune was about washing your hands and went something like…” Payton shook her head and laughed. “I don’t think I should sing this in front of you. I’m trying to make a decent impression since we’ve only just met.”
    “Oh, sing it. I have to hear this,” Ryann said with a laugh.
    Payton inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. Her voice was gruff when she began to sing, ‘Hello, friend, you know it’s a sin if you don’t wash your hands. You extend them to me after you take a pee, and don’t understand why I shy away. I haven’t been lurkin’, but I know you’ve been jerkin’ the gherkin—Ryann, breathe.”
    “What are you doing to her?” Jana asked with annoyance.
    Ryann was slumped against the bar wheezing with laughter. Payton shrugged. “I just sang her a little song.”
    They watched Jana and Melanie for a moment, and Payton sighed. “We may be watching destiny unfold over there. Wouldn’t it be cool for us to be able to say years from now that we were here the night their future as a couple began?”
    “You have a romantic heart,” Ryann said with a smile.
    Payton turned back to the bar and took a sip of her drink. “Maybe all of us who are single are inclined to be that way. You dream of the moment like they seem to be having over there. You envision yourself with someone special doing something mundane, and it fills your heart with longing. But I’ve been there before, and even though I know the reality is that it’s a struggle to not get bored and a battle not to focus on those little nagging things too much…I still want it. All of the arguments and compromise are worth that initial all-consuming fire.”
    Ryann’s smile faltered, and her gaze moved to her glass. “Where does it go?”
    “The flame? It’s smothered by misunderstandings, bills, lack of communication, distrust. I suppose those who have stood the test of time figured out a way to reignite it. Everyone wants to know how. There’s books, talk shows, magazine articles that tell us how to do it, but for every couple, the mysterious key is different.” Payton held up a finger. “This is why I believe in soul mates. Some people are just joined at the hip because they need each other. Some people stay together because they fear they might end up in something worse, like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Some have just given up, become complacent, and cohabitate with a lover who’s become a roommate. Then there are those two people who are so deeply connected that their souls have fused