Asher taps his mic. “I don’t know. Any of your songs?”
“Okay, no. I refuse,” Kai groans. “First karaoke rule: You have to choose hard songs to embarrass your opponent. Sasha already knows her own songs. We need to make it harder for her.”
“Wait, we’re allowed tocompete?” Asher says with glee. His eyes shine with the same competitive glint he had at the bouldering place. A shiver runs through me. This is bad.
“Oh, hell yeah,” Kai says with the same look. “They have a dance pad, too.”
“You can dance?” Asher asks.
“Can you?” Kai grins. “Aren’t you tired of losing to me?”
This is super bad.
This isn’t bad at all, actually.
Unlike the bouldering place, where I had no chance of winning, I’m owning our karaoke showdown. Asher’s not a bad singer, and you can tell he’s been trained—Kai and I gawk when he chooses a country song that he executes with a perfect Texas drawl—but he’s drunk, and he almost stumbles off the stage a few times.
And Kai… tries. His forte is dancing, but there’s not much he can do with a medical boot. He kills it, though, when he sings Fresno’s “Infinito” in Portuguese. I end upwinning the overall score, so I get to choose a duet song to break the tie between them.
“Sing for me, talentless peasants.” I lounge on the couch, kicking back and propping my feet up on the table as I pass Asher and Kai the mics.
“This song again?” Kai whines when I queue up my go-to karaoke song, “Accidentally in Love.” I throw empty candy wrappers at him until he drags himself onstage. “So she said, what’s the problem, baby?”
The moment Kai gets comfortable with the song, Asher tries to upstage him.
“What’s the problem? I don’t know. Well, maybe I’m in love, LOVE!” Asher trips while doing a dramatic spin on the dance pad. When his head nearly misses the edge of the table, we agree we should call it a night and switch our attention to the pizza instead.
The clock strikes twoAMby the time we lie down on the beanbags, eating the last of our snacks and taking sips of vodka while we play truth or dare.
“Asher, truth or dare?” I rasp, the alcohol burning down my throat. My head spins, my chest warming from within.
“Dare.”
“I dare you to post a video singing that country song from earlier. Throw it back like a cowboy for your fans.”
Asher winces. “Truth.”
Kai sinks deeper into his beanbag. “You really worry about your image.”
“And what if I do?” Asher says. “I don’t want to post a videowhere it’s obvious I’ve been drinking. And you two are from the US. You shouldn’t be seen drinking anyway.”
“It’s just a silly video,” Kai teases in a fake British accent. “Oh, pardon me. Gentlemen like me don’t indulge in such pointless activities.”
“Was that a British accent?” Asher squints at Kai.
“Proper British accent, yes, lad. When I ask for a rubber, I mean an eraser, not a condom, innit? Hand me a cuppa. The monarchy is mint.”
“That was terrible,” Asher says. He aims his phone at Kai. “Maybe I’ll post this instead,lad.”
“Don’t you dare. I will make you sign an NDA.” Kai pounces on Asher, trying to reach for his phone. Asher makes an incredulous sound when Kai crushes him against the beanbag.
“Oh, look who learns quickly.” Asher pushes Kai off him before turning to me. His ears are red. “Anyway, Sasha, my turn. Truth or—”
“I haven’t even asked you a question yet!” I say.
“My half a million pounds, my rules.”
“What?” Kai shoots upright. “Your what?”
