“Because I have one for you,” he says, then dips his hand into the inside pocket of his sports coat and takes out his…aviator shades.
Oh.Oh.
He tosses his coat to the wings. “But this one requires a little help from my…team.”
He puts on the shades and takes his time rolling up his sleeves, and holy shit—he’s wearing his rose tattoo.
It’s fresh and bright. Newly applied.
He shoves a hand through his hair, messes it up, all while the stage crew carries something to the side of the stage.
Only it’s not the stage crew. It’s Levi and Hazel hauling…a karaoke machine.
Oh. My. God.
“Thanks, everyone,” he says—to them, then to the audience. “Anyone like karaoke?”
The shouts are loud and booming. And I’m just stunned.
“Then we have one more act for you.”
And the sound of heels clicking across the stage echoes. It’s Saffron again. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, we’re thrilled to present our very own…Sam Silversmith, with a special karaoke tune.”
I have chills.
He just revealed himself to the whole town. After the pool fiasco and his retreat into Super Boss, I never imagined he’d do this.
As the music begins, my chills multiply. They magnify. They exponentialize.
Sawyer strides over to the piano, sets an arm on it, and locks eyes with me. “Chloe, you want to play along too? Do a little karaoke with me. There’s a tune I want to sing called…”
But I already know the name. Because I know the music. And I heard him sing it the first time I discovered him.
At the same time he sings the first line, I play the notes to “I’ve Got a Crush on You.”
Unlike at Pour Decisions, he sings the song to me.
The entire time.
Every line.
Every word.
Every breath of passion, promise, and heart is all mine.
The man is wearing his heart on his sleeve beside his temporary tattoo and serving up his deepest, most private world to the entire town?—
To tell me how he feels.
My heart is beating outside my body.
No—it’s beating so loudly they can hear it in San Francisco.
It’s like bubbles flow through my veins, wonder comprises my cells, and hope lives in every molecule in me.
When he finishes the song, he says into the mic, “In other words, I love you.”
My throat tightens with emotion, and I’m about to sayI love you toowhen he walks away, toward center stage.
