Page 122 of Knot What I Expected

Ember Hollow is supposed to be different.

Home.

Matteo is next door right now at a birthday sleepover. He's in school. He has friends. I have friends.

Gia.

Mrs. Donnelly.

Maybe even—golden eyes flash through my mind.

Nope. Not thinking about him.

Still, I can't shake the sensation crawling along the back of my neck. Something is wrong. I feel it. The hidden creature beneath my skin feels it too.

“Hello?”

Fingers snap in front of my face. I jerk.

“What?”

Blondie rolls her eyes.

“Karaoke.”

I stare at her.

“I'm sorry?”

“We want karaoke.”

Of course you fucking do.

“We don't usually⁠—”

“Dick said we could.”

I glance towards the bar. The bastard is studiously avoiding eye contact.

Traitor.

“Fine.”

Twenty minutes later, I'm hauling Dick’s ancient karaoke machine out of storage. It weighs approximately four hundred pounds.

Okay, probably forty.

But my back hurts, my feet hurt, I smell like fermented hops, and Lindsey has spent the last five minutes explaining that the microphone better not be “gross.”

I plug everything in. Check the speakers. Find the ancient binder containing the song list.

“Okay, ladies. You're all set.”

“Finally,” Lindsey mutters.

I ignore her. I pick up the microphone and turn toward them.

“Who wants to go first?”