Page 58 of Between Steel and Secrets
“Yeah, of course.”
“Thanks.” He scrolls through his social media feed and studies his phone for way too long. I catch a glimpse, and I’m pretty sure he’s looking at photos of the girl he had over a couple of months ago.
I can’t quite remember her name, but she was cute.
Liam never brought her to the house again. He also hasn’t mentioned her and, well, it’s none of my business. I assume it just didn’t work out between them.
A few minutes later, Liam is called up to the stage, and he shoves his phone at me. The screen flickers for a second and goes dark.
Shit.
Liam grabs the microphone and smiles at everyone. “Just remember, I play hockey better than I sing.”
The group chuckles at his remark as the music begins.
Liam doesn’t have a terrible voice. It’s not the perfect song choice that he went with, a little too high a key, but he makes it work. The more comfortable he gets out there, he sounds even better.
Perhaps it was his nerves making him sound a little rough in the beginning.
Shit.
I still haven’t gotten a photo of him yet.
He has way too many apps on his phone and I swipe up, finding dozens of apps open. I open the camera one and hit the button.
Turns out, I’m video recording the whole thing.
Oops.
I glance down, realizing it shows as live and quickly end the video.
Sorry, Liam. Please don’t hate me.
Hopefully, no one saw the live feed. I click on the camera and snap a couple of photos, trying to make up for the blunder.
No one ever has to know.
Liam finishes and comes back to the table, a huge grin on his face.
“You did amazing!” I hand him back his phone.
“Yeah? Thanks.” He smiles sheepishly and glances through the karaoke app for another tune.
“Are you going to get up there?” Liam asks, glancing at me. “Come on. If I can do it, you can.”
“I’ll sing if Luca sings with me.” I smirk at Luca; he groans and hangs his head.
“Don’t make me get on stage.”
“Do you have stage fright?” I ask, curious why he’s so adamant about not singing.
Our waitress brings the appetizers, and Zeke grows restless, reaching for one of the fried pickles.
“You have to let it cool off. The inside is going to be hot.” I put a couple aside for him and then when he grows fussy, I cut them in half, letting it cool a little quicker before sliding the plate in front of him.
“I don’t have stage fright. I’d just rather play babysitter to my son all night. Someone has to watch him. We both can’t be on stage at the same time.” Luca has an excuse for everything.
It’s not like it’s just the three of us at the restaurant doing karaoke. Our roommates and friends are here. I’m sure they’d take a turn for a few minutes keeping an eye on Zeke.
