Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Are you going to drag me up for another round of karaoke, Elyna?” Jamie asked her. “Or am I going to have to drag you?”
Elyna got a wild look in her eye, then turned to me. “I told you, Landry,” she said to me in her French accent. “I told you he’d be begging for more karaoke even though he was so shy to get up there earlier tonight. This man is a good one.”
“He’s a lot less shy than he seems, that’s for sure,” I agreed with her. I was already dead tired, but as the alcohol hit my bloodstream, everything started to feel a little bit surreal.
I was hanging out in a ski resort with some of my most hardworking business collaborators, and somewhere along the course of the night, Jamie had started to fit right in.
I’d figured that Jamie could fit in with any group, even though he doubted himself. But seeing it actually happen was like a gift.
“And that’s why you’re coming up with us for the next round of karaoke, too,” Jamie told me, lifting an eyebrow.
“Not going to happen. I haven’t slept in at least 36 hours and—”
“Oh, it’s definitely going to happen,” he said, grabbing my hand. I relented, letting him lead me up to the little stage at the side of the bar. Even standing up was a struggle, but I was starting to realize that I couldn’t say no to Jamie.
I didn’t want to say no to him.
Jamie hunched over the machine, picking a song. I heard the opening notes to the Rolling Stones’ “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” start to play, and suddenly the night turned from sleepy-surreal to shockingly unexpected.
This song.
This song.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to slap Jamie or give him a hug.
I looked at Jamie, who was turning to me with a wicked smile on his face, holding out a second microphone to me. When the karaoke machine started up, a little multicolored disco light turned on, casting shimmering light over the both of us.
“This song,” I finally said out loud, shaking my head slowly. “I played this on repeat the week Parker broke up with me. Did you know that? Did I tell you that in some sort of drunken ramble?”
“No,” Jamie said with surprise on his face. “You didn’t mention it at all, actually. All the more reason to belt it out with me, though.”
“I meant it when I said I don’t do karaoke, Jamie—”
“You could do it this one time,” he said, the colorful lights splashing over his pleading eyes. He started singing along with the lyrics on his own microphone, like he was singing the words directly to me. “And I try, and I try, and I try, and I try…”
I turned and scanned the restaurant and bar and all I saw were groups of people and couples talking, laughing, and having a good time. People told me that Disneyland was the happiest place on Earth, but this small, hidden, nice restaurant in Colorado sure could give it a run for its money.
Nobody was looking up at me or Jamie like we were dumb or silly. Half of the people weren’t paying attention to us at all, and when it came to karaoke, that was a comfort for me. So when the chorus came along, I picked up the stupid microphone and sang along with Jamie.
“I can’t get no! Satisfaction!”
I knew every word, of course, even though I’d never dreamed of singing the song, or any song, in public. Emmett’s boyfriend, Storm, had been trying and failing to get me to do karaoke for a long time, but with Jamie it only took a little bit of prodding.
Jamie and I sang together, and little by little, I let myself sing louder. By the end of the song I was belting it out just like Jamie had wanted, and I felt freer than I had in a long while.
A few rowdy, drunk people at the bar applauded for us as we finished, and stuck the microphones back onto the karaoke machine.
“You fucking rocked it,” Jamie said, reaching up to give me a high five. I clasped his hand instead, going in for a tight hug.
“It is a strange feeling,” I told him, catching my breath a little, “to have fun singing a song that I listened to so much earlier this year while I secretly hated everything about my love life.”
I kept him in the hug, pulling in a deep breath before easing back and looking him in the eye.
Fuck, I wanted him.
Those soulful eyes. The slight blush on his cheeks that seemed to always be there.
There was a hint of guilt on his face. “Shit, Landry, if I’d have known that I really would have chosen a different one.”
“But I’m so glad you didn’t. I mean it. I feel like I just shed an old skin, or something. For four minutes I wasn’t even feeling tired.”