Chapter Fourteen: Small Town Throw Down

Despite his protests, Hardison had been forced to sit in the back. It was Claire's truck, so she wasn't going to sit in the back, and she would only let Eliot drive (other than herself of course) which left Parker and there was no way Hardison was going to ask her to sit in the back. His Nana raised him right.

"Can you pull up right next to Kip's truck?" Claire asked as she directed Eliot to actually drive into the pasture. "We're gonna drop the tail gate and let him use the bed for part of the stage."

"A stage and alcohol?" Eliot asked with a teasing grin. "Are we sure this is a good idea for you?"

She laughed and shoved him playfully. "Shut up."

Eliot parked the truck and they all piled out. Another truck pulled up next to them as he dropped the tail gate and Claire ran to meet the driver.

"Well, I do declare if it isn't Vick Williams. I'm surprised you decided to grace us with your presence," Claire said teasingly as she hugged the much taller man. He was taller and broader than Eliot and looked as though he might be able to take Eliot in a fight.

"I had no choice. Kip wants to play and I'm the one with the sound system," Vick said with a good natured laugh. "Thanks for letting us borrow your truck, Lanier."

"Not a problem," she answered. "Come on, let me introduce you to some people."

"Who's that guy?" Hardison asked Eliot with a quirked brow. "He's…jacked."

"Guys, this is Vick. He's a friend of Kip's from Nashville," Claire said before she motioned to the other three people. "Vick, this is Hardison, Parker, and—"

"The husband," Vick interrupted her as he reached out and shook Eliot's hand. "We've heard a lot about you, Roy. Good to meet you."

"You have?" Eliot asked as he returned the handshake. "What have you heard?" He wasn't aware Claire made a habit of talking about him to other people.

"She likes to brag, your wife," Vick said with a shrug. "I run a gym back in Nashville and I tried to teach her some self defense moves but to my surprise she didn't need 'em. She said you taught her everything she knows."

"The word 'everything' makes it sound like I know more than I do," Claire said with a chuckle. "I know just enough."

"She's a good student," Eliot said with a smirk as he gave Claire a proud glance. "She picks it up fast."

"You know, it's funny, you're not built like a baseball player," Vick said observantly. "You're built like a fighter. You ever been involved in MMA? You look familiar to me."

Hardison, Eliot, and Parker exchanged a look. All three were thinking of the same job, he knew.

"Nah, nothing serious. Maybe an amateur league or two a while back," Eliot offered dismissively, hoping this conversation wouldn't go any further.

"Ah, yeah, I traveled through a few of those too once in a while. Probably saw you some place and didn't even know it," Vick said with a nod.

"Yeah, that's probably it," Eliot said with a light forced chuckle.

Claire rejoined him and leaned close to him whisper. "That's not it, is it?"

"Not even close."

She laughed. "You guys do get around, don't you?"

"You have no idea."

"You seen Kip yet?" Vick asked.

"Not yet," Claire answered. "We just got here."

"If you see him, let him know I'm gonna go ahead and get the sound and the drum kit set up," Vick said as he went back to his truck.

"Will do!" Claire shouted as another car came into view. "Oh!" She turned back to Vick excitedly. "Kip didn't tell me she was coming!" Vick grinned broadly and nodded.

"I made sure of it," Vick said with a chuckle. "That boy will make a move yet."

"We will see to it, right?" Claire asked Vick with a grin.

"Teamwork makes the dream work, Lanier," Vick replied with a wink.

"Who are you talking about?" Eliot asked.

"Kip's got this girl in Nashville that he's been trying to get up the nerve to ask out for months now. But he's still kinda shaky thanks to the ex-wife. Who, no matter what Kip thinks, mistreated him as much as he thinks he mistreated her," Claire told him. There was obvious disdain for the ex-wife in her tone. "Anyway, she came down a couple of weeks ago for one of the throw downs and she's absolutely the sweetest. Super talented too. And Kip is so smitten. It's adorable. I told Vick that we needed to force Kip's hand."

"And that's her car?" Eliot asked.

"Sure is," Claire said excitedly. "Kip says she's new to the Nashville scene. Her brother owns a studio in Memphis, I think, so that's where she's been until the last six months or so."

A sinking feeling started to gather in Eliot's gut. No way, he was that unlucky. It couldn't be. The car stopped several feet away from them and Claire waved as the driver's side door opened. A hand waved back and then Claire took off to meet the driver.

"Kaye Lynn!" She called excited as she reached the car. "Girl, no one told me you were coming!"

Eliot froze. Well, shit.

Hardison and Parker chuckled from their spots next to him and gave him knowing looks.

"Kaye Lynn as in…Memphis Kaye Lynn?" Parker asked him knowingly.

"Damn, bruh, talk about a small world," Hardison said with a smirk. "Bet you never thought the ex and the Mrs. Would meet face to face, huh?"

"Shup up, Hardison," Eliot muttered as he reluctantly trudged forward.

He was not looking forward to this at all. The closer he got the more recognition he saw on Kaye Lynn's face. He stopped beside of Claire and watched as Claire opened her mouth to introduce him before Kaye Lynn interrupted.

"Eliot?" She asked in disbelief.

Claire's eyes widened and her lips parted slightly before she spoke. "I'm sorry, you two know each other?"

"Uh, yeah," Kaye Lynn said with a pleasantly surprised smile. She motioned to Hardison and Parker who were now standing behind Eliot. "They did a favor for me a brother a while back."

"Did they?" Claire asked with a thin smile. There was no emotion that he could read in Claire's eyes and her smile was neutral enough that he couldn't tell if it was genuine.

"Yeah, you remember me telling you about Mitchell Kirkland?" Kaye Lynn asked her.

"The has been that tried to steal your songs?" Claire asked. Realization dawned on her face and her thin smile grew. "Let me guess, they got them back for you?"

"And then some," Kaye Lynn told her.

Claire then gave Kaye Lynn another once over. This time seeing her through someone else's eyes. Feisty, country crooning, damsel in distress. Her eyes then flicked to Eliot, who actually looked nervous, and she put two and two together. Kaye Lynn was Eliot's type. And he did say there was a woman that reminded him of Claire. He'd told her that much.

"I think I understand," Claire said with a smirk.

"So," Kaye Lynn said as she motioned between Eliot and Claire. "You two are a, uh, thing?"

"Something like that," Claire said with a chuckle. Why did she look so calm? Eliot was worried. She was taking this far too well. "Eliot and I have known each other for a very long time."

Kaye Lynn nodded. "I always got the feeling that he was thinking of someone else when he was looking at me. Now, I get it," Kaye Lynn said thoughtfully. "But I thought you said your husband's name was Roy?"

"Alias," Claire told her as if that one word explanation would be enough.

To his surprise, Kaye Lynn accepted it with a slow nod. "Right, so I guess I should call him Roy for the rest of the night then?"

"Around anyone besides, Kip, yeah," Eliot answered. It was the first time he'd dared to speak since he walked over. Hardison and Parker were watching the exchange between Claire and Kaye Lynn with surprised yet eager expressions. He had to admit he was thrown off too. They were being so…reasonable.

"I am loving this outfit," Claire said as she looped her arm through Kaye Lynn's and led her back to where Vick was setting up the equipment.

"Oh, thanks! It's new. I got a publishing deal since I was here last," she said proudly. "Thought I'd celebrate with some new boots and an outfit or two."

"I can't believe my eyes," Hardison said with a grin. "Are they actually…friends?"

"Oh man, I thought there was gonna be a catfight," Parker said with a disappointed expression. "I love those."

Eliot should have been relieved, but he wasn't.

"It's not just me, right?" Eliot asked them. "This is weird, isn't it?"

"Absolutely."

"It defies all laws of nature."

In the distance Eliot saw Kip walking across the pasture and he hurriedly caught up with Claire and Kaye Lynn.

"Listen, ladies," Eliot said with his most charming smile. "Can we maybe not mention to Kip the history here?"

"You mean that the two of you slept together?" Claire asked Eliot pointedly.

"Why would Kip care?" Kaye Lynn asked. "I mean if Claire's fine with it and I'm fine with it, why wouldn't Kip be?"

"Yes, Eliot," Claire said with a teasing smirk as she feigned ignorance. "Why wouldn't he be?"

"I—It—well—I just thought most people might think that this situation would be a bit awkward, you know and I just think it's not something that should be aired out in public," Eliot said as she struggled to come up with an answer.

"And also," Parker said as she joined them. "Because Kip has a massive crush on Kaye Lynn. I heard Claire say that to Eliot earlier."

Eliot winced and huffed. "Yes, thank you, Parker."

"He does?" Kaye Lynn asked. "Really? I—I thought about asking him for coffee once but then I didn't know if he was ready for that. His ex really did a number on him, I think."

"She did," Claire confirmed. "She was a real bitch. Not that I ever met her, but I can tell. I know her type. And yes, Kip does like you. He's too nervous to ask you out. It's actually adorable. But you have to do us all a favor and pretend you don't know. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

"Got it," Kaye Lynn said with a nod. "I didn't hear that and I won't discuss the fact that I had sex with Eliot." Kaye Lynn smirked at him. Claire gave Eliot a mischievous glance as well.

"Probably a good idea," Claire offered with a very serious nod. "We wouldn't want people to think Eliot was a man whore or anything."

They were messing with him. They were absolutely torturing him on purpose.

"Definitely not," Kaye Lynn agreed. "We absolutely cannot ruin his reputation."

"Not to mention the gossip that would come from it," Claire told her. "Can you imagine what the little old biddies at the local beauty parlor would think? It'd be a full blown scandal."

"Okay," Eliot said as he rolled his eyes and sighed. "I get it, you can stop now."

"Oh, darlin'," Claire said as she imitated his accent. "We're just looking out for you."

"No, you're both evil, that's what it is," Eliot said as the panic in his chest faded. Once it was gone he was able to grin at them knowingly. "It's really not funny."

"Oh no," Kaye Lynn said with a loud laugh. "It totally is."

"What did you think we were going to do, Eliot?" Claire asked him with a chuckle. "Rip each other's hair out over you?"

"Oh, were we supposed to do that?" Kaye Lynn asked jokingly. "Cause I'll take you on right now if you want."

"You think you could, huh?" Claire asked with a smirk.

"Please, I'm a scrapper what I lack in skill I make up with in endurance," Kaye Lynn told her.

"Little Girl, I got like ten pounds on you, I could throw you real easy," Claire said with a quirked eyebrow.

"You could try," Kaye Lynn said with a challenging grin.

"Alright," Eliot said with a laugh. "This is about a second from actually happening and, at the risk of disappointing Parker, should we change the topic?" These girls would get into a fight just for the bragging rights. He knew them both.

As luck would have it, Kip made it to them at just that moment.

"I see you've all met, Kaye Lynn," Kip said as he joined them. "Thanks for coming, Kaye," Kip said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Wouldn't have missed it. It's been a real rare treat so far," Kaye Lynn said as she exchanged an amused look with Claire. "As it turns out, Roy, here, is real fun to tease."

"Yeah, I could see that," Kip agreed with a grin. "He takes himself a bit too seriously. Those are always the best ones to mess with."

Claire laughed loudly and nodded her agreement. "Oh god, you have no idea how exactly right you are."

"Vick almost got the sound system set up?" Kip asked Claire curiously.

"Yeah, I think so," she answered. "We'll just go check on him for you." Claire nudged Kaye Lynn toward Kip and then led Eliot and the others away. As they walked away she wrapped her arms around Eliot and then placed a kiss to his jawline. "You're adorable when you're nervous and panicked. You know that, don't you?"

"Are we allowed to call Eliot adorable?" Hardison asked from behind them.

Eliot turned to glare at him as he wrapped his arms around Claire in return. "She is, you're not."

"What about me?" Parker asked.

"You either."

"Good to know," Parker said with a nod.