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With her hand still in mine, I pull her closer and say, “We’ll just see about that,” and give her a half smile. I pull my hand back reluctantly and take a swig of my drink. These ’ritas seriously are delicious and go down so smooth, which can be super dangerous. See, what Dani doesn’t know is that Zach and I were already signed up for karaoke, and I’m super pumped that this all unfolded before Scott called our names up there.
“All right, Lucky’s, what do you say we bring up our crowd favorites,” Scott says into the microphone. The crowd is cheering, which only makes Zach’s and my smiles larger. Oh, Dani is so going down.
“Everyone, welcome to the stage, Zach and Kyler!”
“Well, darlin’—” I turn to Dani as I get up from my chair and smirk. “—guess you better start thinking about what song you’re gonna sing.” Her smile instantly falls when she realizes this was all a ploy to get her up there.
“Why don’t you watch how the professionals do it, little sis.” Zach takes one last swig, and together we head to the stage. We have our backs toward the audience till the music starts and dramatically turn. I have no shame that we have planned-out routines for all of our songs. We are both completely comfortable with our sexuality and attraction to women, but men can love to get up there and shake their ass at times too—it’s fun. I tip my head in Danielle’s direction as I start to sing. I know when I get back to the table, I’ll probably be in trouble, but I’m going to enjoy this. Maybe even a little too much.
“Oh, I was so set up, wasn’t I.” I take my palm to my face in embarrassment.
Haylee lets out a loud laugh. “Yep, you definitely were. I had no idea this was part of the plan, but it’s even funnier they didn’t tell you. They usually kick off the night with some ridiculous duet. I can’t decide if my favorite was when they did ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,’ ‘You’re the One That I Want,’ or wait, no, I think it was ‘Islands in the Stream.’”
At that image of them being Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, I can’t hold back my laugh. “Which one was Dolly,” I ask in between my laughter.
She shakes her head. “The best part about it was that they both wanted to be her and ended up flipping a coin to see who was.”
I snort from laughing, and instantly tears are in my eyes—not sad tears, but for once happy tears.
Zach and Kyler continue their well-rehearsed singing and dancing to Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker’s “When the Sun Goes Down.” They have the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands, clapping and cheering.
“She thinks Zach is sexy when the sun goes down,” Zach sings and winks in Haylee’s direction.
“Uncle Kyler’s hotter when the sun goes down,” Kyler sings, elbowing Zach in the ribs.
When the song ends, they take a rather dramatic bow and Kyler has a wicked grin on his face. He realizes that I know I just got played.
“You’re pretty proud of yourself, huh, asshole?” I poke at Kyler as he takes the seat next to me.
Pretending to be completely innocent, he takes his hand to his chest as if I had just offended his mama. “Who, me? Why, Jacobs, I am truly hurt that you would think I tricked you into this deal.”
I look to Zach, who can’t hold back his laughter. “Yeah, sis, I think we just got lucky or something.” He shrugs it off and takes a swig of his drink.
“Oh hmm,” I say playfully, placing my hand on my chin as if I’m in deep thought. “That’s funny, since Hails here told me you guys do this all the fucking time.”
Haylee chokes on her drink, almost spitting it out on the table. “Hey, don’t bring me into this!”
I narrow my eyes at her, then at Zach, finally landing on Kyler. I shake my head knowing that a deal is a deal. Fuck, I haven’t sung in front of a crowd in over four years. I don’t know if I can do this.
I walk over to the bar and browse the book with all of the songs listed. I feel someone hovering over me. “So you make your choice yet?” Kyler asks, leaning up against the bar.
“I can’t believe you tricked me,” I say, still focus on the song listings. “How do you know I don’t suck and ruin everyone’s night?”
Kyler steps closer. “Can I confess something?”
I roll my eyes at him. “Oh, now you want to start being honest with me tonight?”
He throws his hands up in surrender. “Okay, I deserved that.” I pause. “But in my defense, I just wanted to hear you sing again.”
I whirl in his direction, tilting my head in confusion. “What do you mean again?”
Kyler looks down and shuffles his feet, so I repeat, “Kyler, when have you heard me sing before?’
His brown eyes meet mine as he confesses, “So that day you and Zach got into your huge fight…” I raise my eyebrows at him to continue. “Well, we may have arrived home from the gym earlier than what I had told you when you exited the bathroom.We may have caught your show that morning.”
My hand goes to my mouth. Oh my God, oh my God, they had been home and heard me singing in the shower. I close my eyes in horror—I just want to escape the reality of my embarrassment, but I feel Kyler’s grip on my wrist pulling my hands from my face. His hand then goes to my cheek, pulling my attention back to his.
“Hey, you are really good, like really good, and I just wanted to hear you sing again. Zach said you haven’t sung in a long time, so I figured you wouldn’t just get up there if I asked you. So, I’m sorry—really, Dani, I am. But they are going to love you out there. Trust me, if they can like your dumbass brother’s and my routines and want more when we can’t carry a tune to save our lives, then they are going to actually enjoy your performance.”
