Page 89 of Shine For Me

“Fox didn’t sing,” June continues as if she hadn’t heard her.

“You want me to sing for you, baby?” I ask, and her eyes light up.

“Really? You would sing for me?”

It’s not something I was planning on doing, but there’s no saying no to the excitement in her eyes. I bet she would blush the way I like if I got up there and dedicated a song to her. That right there is reason enough to do it.

“Hang on,” Everly says, getting in between us. “Fox is only going to sing to you if you agree to sing first.”

“Says who?” June cries. “He didn’t agree to that!”

“Says me,” Everly announces definitely, like the whole thing is settled. “You want a serenade from Fox, you sing first.”

June shakes her head, looking both exasperated and amused. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I couldn’t sing. That isn’t me being cute or coy or something. I really,reallycan’t sing.”

“That’s what makes it fun!” Everly argues.

I’m about to step in and tell my cousin to stop bullying her—even though I would like to see June get up on that stage—when Rose leans down the table. “Would it help if we sang with you?”

“Oooh, yes, Rosie!” Everly cries. “We’ll be your back-up singers.” She grabs Alex by the arm. “Right?”

Alex looks from her nutso best friend to June and rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to do this, no matter what Everly says. But if you think it might be fun, we’ll definitely go up there with you.”

June pauses, and I feel like I can read her mind.That must be nice,she’d said a few minutes ago.Having friends.

And now here are three friendly faces all agreeing to go up on stage with her for no other reason than to have fun. To be silly.

“Okay,” she says, holding up a hand when Everly lets out a loud whoop. “But just remember that you asked for this when you realize how badly I suck.” Then she stands up, grabs my beer, and downs the rest of the bottle in one gulp before straightening her shoulders. “Let’s do this.”

It might just be the hottest thing I’ve ever seen her do.

Our whole table erupts into cheers and whistles when June walks up to the stage, Everly, Rose, and Alex following behind her. “You think this is a good idea?” Will mutters to me over the noise.

“Why, because she said she sucks?”

He rolls his eyes. “Half the people here suck at karaoke. No, do you think it’s a good idea for your very famous movie star girlfriend to go up on stage in a room full of strangers?”

Oh. Well, shit. I’d been having such a good time with June and my family that I forgot for a second who she is. It’s hard to see her that way, as the gorgeous celebrity, when she’s just being herself with the people I care about most.

But it’s too late to stop it now. June is standing front and center on the stage, the three girls gathered around the duet mic behind her. I hear some gasps in the crowd, and more than a few phones turning in her direction. A sick feeling creeps into my gut. This might have been a really bad idea.

“Okay, so, just so that everyone knows,” June says into the mic in a bright voice. “I can’t hold a tune to save my life.” There’s a chorus of encouraging cheers and applause. “So when your ears start to bleed in a few minutes, take it up with these people, okay?” There’s some laughter and several shouts of encouragement. June meets my eyes, shaking her head with a resigned smile, and then the song starts.

June bobs her head a little during the musical intro and then she opens her mouth. And…she isso bad. So much worse than I had prepared myself for. The phrase ‘can’t hold a tune’ takes on an entirely new meaning with Juniper Cain.

“Oh, fuck,” Will mutters next to me, sounding almost awed. “She really wasn’t kidding, was she?”

I just shake my head, not sure if I should go up there and rescue her or if it would be kinder to just let her get it over with. But then something amazing happens—June starts to laugh. She can barely get the words out, she’s laughing so hard. She turns to the girls—who haven’t even started to sing the back-up part, apparently horrified into shocked paralysis by June’s voice. She holds out a hand to them. “Please save me,” she says into the mic, and the entire bar cracks up.

My sister snaps out of it first, grabbing June’s hand as a grin breaks out over her face. She brings her face close to June so they can sing into the same microphone. Rosie has a great voice, maybe the closest to my dad’s talent out of all his kids, but even that isn’t enough to drawn out June’s warble. So Alex and Everly push in close too, all four of them now singing the song together.

“This disaster needs dancing,” June calls over the music, and the bar cheers some more, getting into it now. My brother and Leo are staring at the girls like they aren’t quite sure what to make of them, but Will and Wyatt are grinning and Bodhi stands up on his chair to cheer as the girls start to shimmy at the microphone. They’re laughing more than singing at this point, but Rose is managing to keep the melody going.

June’s face is pink but she’s smiling so big, her eyes bright with happiness. I’ve only seen her have this much fun a few times—out on the fishing boat that day, cuddled up against me in the ocean when we went night swimming, and right now, dancing and laughing and singing in that god-awful croak with my sister and my cousins. When the song is over, the entire bar bursts into loud applause and cheers. There are even some calls for an encore—which the girls deny, thank God. As fun as that was, I really don’t think I want to hear that noise ever again.

Will is looking at June with a thoughtful expression as she climbs off the stage, arms around Everly and Rose. “You know, Fox,” he says slowly, like he’s looking for the right words. “I didn’t really get the two of you at first. River told me she was perfect for you, but I don’t think I saw it until just now.” He shakes his head with a light laugh. “Your girl is not at all what I thought she was.”

To tell the truth, she’s not quite what I thought she was, either. And I’m finding that I like that, a lot—that June can still surprise me. That there’s still more of her to discover.

As she reaches the table, she gives me that breathtaking smile right before she throws herself into my arms. When she lifts her face to mine for a kiss, I send a little prayer out into the universe—that I get to be the one who’s allowed to explore all the secret parts of her soul that this amazing girl keeps hidden from the rest of the world.