#Book 4 - Page 50 (1/2)

“What do you want to sing?” he asked, about to flip through the songs.

“Soundgarden!” Dex yelled from the back of the room. I looked over everyone’s head and saw him giving me the OK sign and smiling cheekily. He had sat back down at the table beside Rebecca and Emily. Of course he would say that. He wanted to hear it ever since I told him I did a Chris Cornell impression. Actually it was more of a parody than an impression…

“Ah, a Seattle favorite,” the MC said, and touched a few b.u.t.tons on the machine. “You got it, Dex. We don’t have much selection here, so it’ll have to be this Pretty Noose.”

Luckily “Pretty Noose” wasn’t the hardest song to sing and I knew it by heart so I didn’t need to look at the lyrics. I nodded, swallowed hard, my eyes avoiding the crowd, knowing that again everyone was looking at me. As the “wah-wah” guitar intro flowed in, I quickly kicked off my shoes beside me, not risking it. And I waited.

I nodded my head in time to the cymbal hits, my fingers dancing beside me to guitar. Then the drums and sound burst in and I put the mic to my lips, and sang (overdramatically) along.

By the time I was done with the first verse, my voice was warmed up and I was singing/imitating the s.h.i.+t out of the song. My voice was surprisingly powerful and clear, only cracking at certain bits. The Riff Raff crew at the front were clapping already and letting out little woos. I was too embarra.s.sed to look at my table, so I kept my eyes closed and channeled as much energy into my “performance” as I could. I acted like I was being hung from a noose and headbanged along with the beat.

When I wasn’t doing that, I was acting like I was at a drum set. When I imitated the noose for the second time I looked over at Dex. He was watching me, not smiling, just looking amazed. I took that as a good sign, then fell dramatically to my knees just in time for the guitar solo, which I pretended to play (even though I was never able to play it well in real life). I air-guitared and everyone cheered. I reached back and pulled the rest of my hair loose, so when I got back up to my feet, I was able to headbang with abandon, my black tresses flying everywhere.

Near the end of the song, everyone was singing along (like the true Seattleites they were) and I finished it off by giving a dramatic, “Yeah!”

The room erupted into applause. I stood up straight, my knees shaking against each other, and brushed my hair off my face. I beamed at the attention. I couldn’t help it.

“Great job miss…miss…” the MC said as he came back on the stage and took the mic from me.

“Palomino!” someone yelled from one of the tables.

“Ah yes, round of applause for Miss Palomino. Now, who is next?”

I exited the stage, grabbing my shoes as I went, just as some forty-something woman from the animal show hopped up. I walked barefoot over to the bar and leaned against it while putting my dreaded shoes back on my feet.

“f.u.c.k me,” Dex exclaimed. I looked up and smiled at him. He was standing beside me, still looking awed.

“It was your song, Dex,” I said.

“You…you…”

I gave him an expectant look.

“You’re going to put me to shame when I go up there.”

“Pffft,” I said, and turned back to the bar to get the bartender’s attention. I got it right away. He was tall, wiry and cute and grinned at me.

“What can I get for you, gorgeous?” he asked, his hand sliding over the gla.s.ses beneath the counter.

“I’m getting it,” Dex said, leaning against the counter beside me, his shoulder pressed up against mine. He threw a fifty in front of the bartender.

I raised my brow at him, trying not to laugh. “High rolling, are we now?”

“Just keep it under ten bucks,” Dex said with a wink.

I nudged him playfully and told the bartender to pour us both a Jack and c.o.ke.

“Rubbing off on you again, am I?” Dex asked.

I rolled my eyes and turned around to survey the room. Jenn was back at the table now beside Bradley. Dex followed my eyes and sighed.

“I know,” he said slowly.

I eyed him quizzically. “Did you hear about what happened?”

“What happened?” he asked. He seemed sincere.

“I’ll tell you later,” I said quickly, not wanting to get into it here. Not until after everyone had cooled down.

“Always with the later, Perry. What if there is no later?”

I gave him a strange look. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he started, reaching across the bar and handing me my drink, “we really oughta start living in the now, don’t you think?”

He raised his gla.s.s. I raised mine. We clinked. I was about to take a sip but he said, “Uh-uh, Perry. You have to look me in the eyes. Otherwise it’s seven years bad s.e.x. For both of us. And we can’t have that, can we?”

I blushed again and looked deep into his eyes. He was looking at me like he never had before. His dark brown beautiful eyes that were so familiar to me had suddenly changed. There was another layer there, this one filled with things I didn’t dare dream about. Longing, pa.s.sion, l.u.s.t and intensity. I wondered how sudden the change was. Maybe he had always looked at me like that and I was only just noticing.

We both took a slow sip of our drinks, not taking our eyes off each other. He smiled, his lips twitching in an almost predatory way. I couldn’t say I wasn’t returning the same look.

“Uh, sir, your change?” the bartender’s voice penetrated the s.p.a.ce between our interlocked eyes.