Page 24 of As Long As You'll Have Me
“Which is why we need to go home?—”
“Karaoke is about to begin! Grab your friends and pick your song, signups are at the bar, and it’s first come first serve!” the DJ announces over me.
“Karaoke! We should sing!” she squeals, using both arms to violently shake me.
“Rae, no, it’s time to go home,” I protest but she’s already grabbing the attention of the bartender and putting our names in for a song.
A few minutes later, she’s pulling me up on the stage in front of a bar full of people as the backtrack to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” starts to run. The DJ hands us both a mic and as I’m standing there, I see three guys walk in the door at the back of the bar.
One guy has brown hair covered by a backwards baseball hat and a form-fitted navy T-shirt with the classic fireman insignia printed on the front pocket. I smile drunkenly to myself when I realize who’s just walked in. My eyestrack him to a booth where he sits down with his friends.Maybe the ones he mentioned before?I think to myself just as the words start to scroll on the screen for Rae and I to sing along.
You work too hard.
You need to learn to turn therapist Hanna off for once.
I’m going to just live in the moment and not let things worry me for once.
All of this and more bounces around in my head and more as Rae carries us through the beginning part of the song. Unable to pull my eyes away from him, I start to sing. The sound of my voice catches his attention and he looks towards the stage, finally seeing me standing there. His eyes narrow almost as if he doesn’t believe what he sees but then he does something that nearly makes me run off the stage.
He smiles at me.
Big and wide and absolutely something that would make any sane woman swoon.
Maybe, I think to myself,if I show him that I can loosen up, he’ll do the same thing. If I show him that I can let my walls down and have fun, he’ll feel more comfortable around me and open up.
Leaning into the song, I smile at Rae and start to dance to the beat. I see her glance towards Leon and I give her a nod and without even saying anything, we both agree to the same thing. She steps off the stage at the same time I do and we take our performance out into the crowd. People whoop and holler as we belt out the words perfectly, dancing and making our way through the crowded bar. My mind is acting on its own and I find myself moving towards where Miles is sitting, his eyebrows arching more and more the closer I get. We’re at the heart of the song when I reach him and it fills me with the courage to snatch hishat off his head and plop it on my own. It’s so oversized that it falls over my eyes and I drunkenly push it back with a laugh. He’s shaking his head at me but with the end of the song nearing, I need to get back to the stage for our grand finale. Spinning, I wink at him over my shoulder and toss my hair back before dancing my way back to where I see Rae heading. We hit the final beat together on stage and strike a pose, leaning against one another’s backs, arms crossed in front of our chests.
The entire place explodes as Rae and I double over in laughter, unable to contain ourselves anymore. Tears well in my eyes, we’re laughing so hard at the entire performance. My heart hasn’t felt this light in ages and I wish I could bottle up this feeling and keep it forever. Still wearing his hat, I use a hand to push it back so I can see clearly. Looking up and catching my breath, I find him standing at the edge of the stage with his hands tucked into his front pockets. Suddenly my mouth feels dry as my head spins.
“Nice performance there, doc,” he compliments with a lazy smirk. Rae is too distracted by her suitor who has come to congratulate her as well.
“Uhh.” I nervously chuckle before taking a step off the stage to get out of the way of the next singer. “Thanks.”
Looking me up and down, he doesn’t say anything but I don’t miss how he licks his lips as he takes me in. The longer I stand in front of him the warmer I get. The need to run away is growing in my gut but the desire to stay and listen to him call me ‘doc’ again is growing just as quickly.
“Hat looks good on you,” he finally remarks, tipping his chin back and casting his eyes towards my head. My hands fly to where I’d somehow forgotten it still was after I so boldly took it from him.
“Oh, thanks. I’m sorry, you probably want that back,” Ihurry out, pulling it from my head and handing it to him. I pat down my long, blonde hair and hope that it doesn’t look too disheveled.
“No, no, you keep it. Looks better on you anyway.” His hand pulls the baseball cap from mine and somehow, the world feels like it’s about to stop when he takes a step closer to me and carefully sets it back on my head. Still too large for me, it falls in front of my eyes but he’s quick to right it. When he tips it back, my eyes lock on his and suddenly I feel dwarfed not only by the sheer size of him but also the energy that’s radiating off of him. It’s as if someone’s cranked up the heat and we’re the only two people in the room.
This is bad. This is very bad. He’s a patient, you need to go.
Why can’t I stop looking at him? Why do I like the way he’s looking at me?
You’re drunk and getting the signals mixed up.
No you’re so totally not and he’s so totally hot.
Shut up, you moron! This is the tequila talking and the fact that you haven’t gotten laid in forever.
The drunk and logical voices argue inside my brain as I stare at him.
“I liked your song. I didn’t know you were such a performer.”
“You don’t really know anything about me, do you, fireman?” The question comes out flirtatiously and I can feel the logical side of my brain smack itself in the forehead. Drunk Hanna is in full control now.
“No, I don’t. But I think I’d like to.” His voice is low and gravely as he responds. He leans in as if he’s going to touch me. A soft smile starts to grow across my lips as any logical reasoning gets washed away in the sea of alcohol I’veconsumed tonight. Out of nowhere the force of a body crashes into me and pulls me from the trance he’s caught me in.
