by Finn, Emilia
They move to the keyboard and repeat the process, only to prove Kane is good at a lot of things, but playing music isn’t one of them. Ang pulls him up, stops in the middle of the floor, then with a huff, he skips off the stage and comes back with a cocktail mixer.
To explain, he shakes it.
Jess and I burst out with laughter at Kane’s offended expression. He gets a shaker while Ang picks the acoustic guitar up and sets the women in the room to swooning. Ang pulls a stool to the center of the stage, then grabs another for Kane.
What was funny to the crowd now becomes a moment of the men getting busy with their phones, and the women watching with big eyes.
“Alright.” Ang’s husky voice moves through the microphone he sets on a stand. “We have a song to sing, a competition to win, and a point to prove, so there will be no shenanigans tonight. I have a classic Charger on the line, and I’ll be pissed if I lose it because you’re bias to the pretty girls. We just want a fair competition.”
The men in the crowd scoff, so Kane takes shit into his own hands.
Setting his instrument on his stool, he stands and pulls his shirt over his head until the thirsty women throw bills worth much more than a dollar onto the stage.
“Oh, come on!” Jess laughingly shouts. “That’s not fair. They’re not voting for your music, they’re voting for your body! This is a shenanigan!”
“Sorry, Blondie.” Kane tucks his shirt into the back of his jeans and takes a seat. “You made me do this, so stop whining, sit your pretty ass down, and prepare to be beat.” He turns to Ang. “Do it.”
Shake, shake, shake. Kane works his instrument. Shake, shake, shake. Then Ang starts the guitar and forces every woman that was a teen in the nineties into a tailspin. As Long As You Love Me by the Backstreet Boys, acoustic style, chips away at the wall that I didn’t know was still shielding my heart from him, so I lean on my elbow on the table and watch Angelo play.
“They’re cheating.”
“Yeah,” Jess sighs. With hearts in her eyes and a popped bottom lip, she mirrors me and rests on her closed fist while the guys sing. “I want to give him a BJ now, so it’s okay. I’m so in love with my man, Baby. You can’t possibly know this love until you know it.”
Ang’s voice is well honed from twenty-five years of playing in a band, and though Kane’s isn’t amazing, he still puts on a show so every woman in the bar falls in love with him.
Almost every woman…
“Yeah…” Memories of a lifetime together – the lifetime we’ve already lived, and the lifetime that could still come for us – pass through my mind. I think back on the million nights Ang and I spent together, just friends, but something more. It was always something more, always something simmering beneath the surface.
I think of all the riddles I fed him that he was never able to solve, the frustrations he would voice when I wouldn’t spell it out, the answers that I would scream in my head.
The answer is call me, dumbass!
The answer is kiss me! I’m not a little girl anymore.
Ang stares into my eyes and sings of love, of acceptance, of forgiveness. As long as you love me. His strong hands strum the guitar almost as skillfully as they play a piano. He picks up any instrument and convinces it to work for him, to make magic, to make my heart race for someone it was never supposed to race for…
“Baby…?”
I don’t look away from Ang. I stare into his eyes and feel something new and sweet run through my blood. “Yuh?”
“You okay there? You’re drooling a little bit.”
“Shut up.” I watch Ang closely, each move he makes, each finger that caresses the strings on the guitar, and I consider dropping the riddles. “I should just tell him I like him, right?”
“Well, duh!” Laughing, she turns in and drops a kiss on the ball of my shoulder. Ang’s eyes follow her for a beat, but they come back to mine with a smile. “Though I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise to him. He’s looking right into your soul right now, Baby. Jesus, even I can feel it. Jump off the ledge and let him catch you. I promise, he won’t drop you.”
She goes back to watching Kane, giggling when he tosses his shaker aside and starts dancing instead.
Ang plays the way a good natured uncle plays for a child; with an exasperated smile, and a shake of his head. His lips caress the mic, his words vibrate inside my chest, and Kane picks up his stool and gyrates against it like it’s Jess’ leg.
Laughing when Ang shakes his head, Kane pulls him to his feet and kicks the stools aside. With Ang’s guitar still in his arms, without missing a single string or step, they do the cha cha slide in perfectly synchronized steps.
I sigh like a lovesick puppy. “Jessie…”
Grinning, she twirls my hair around her finger. “I know. I’ve known it a long time. You just gotta stand up and tell him.”
35
Angelo
Winner Winner
I step down off the stage and ignore the grabbing hands of women wanting a piece of our two-man band. I figure they want Kane – our dancing monkey – but since he sprinted away the second our hands were raised in the air as victors, the grabby women make do with me as second best. Kane had the right idea – sweeping Jessie into his arms and kissing her so indecently half the bar have to excuse themselves to somewhere more private – so I brush past the hands and make a beeline straight for the woman I’m done pretending I don’t love.
Why shouldn’t we be together?
Someone tell me why the fuck not.
Laughing, even though her hands are shaking, Laine slides off her stool and meets me halfway across the room. When we bump into each other, I slide my arm around her hips to hold her up. “Hey. Having fun?”
“You sang Backstreet Boys!” She laughs. “That wasn’t fair.”
“Oh, please. You practically stripped to Britney. We had to do something to get the win.”
“I really wanted the Charger.”
Our fingers twine together and send a shot of adrenaline through my blood. Neither of us mention our hands, we just ignore the obvious and keep smiling.
“And now you’ve gotta write a song with me. How does it taste to lose?”
She scrunches her lips in such a way I’m tempted to lean in and bite. “It’s sour and yucky,” she whines. “I’ll give you the hundred and a song, but you still lost the last two bets. It’s important I never let you forget it.”
“I lost the baby bet, but the manual bet isn’t over. Give him time to get to the post office.”
Rolling her eyes, she turns and flames red when she sees Kane basically seducing her sister against the bar. Jess’ arms are wrapped around the back of his neck, one leg resting around his hip, and her tongue down his throat.
Or his down hers.
It’s a mutual choking session.
I turn back to study Laine in the dark room, but she’s not watching them. She watches me. “How does that make you feel?”
My stomach jumps. “What?”
She nods back toward the bar. “Them. How does it feel to see Jess do that?”
“Umm…” We’re cutting straight to the chase then, I guess. No more evasions. No more bullshit. “Ah… It makes me a little jealous that he gets to be with his one, I guess. I’m jealous that he found her, and now they have that freedom to be together.”
Her eyes narrow with suspicion. “Do you want to be with Jessie?”
“No.” Sliding my hand along her arm and over the raised skin where her scar now reminds us both how short life is, I twine my fingers with hers, and smile when her eyes widen. “Not Jessie. Definitely not Jess. But I’m jealous of their freedom, because not everyone gets that.”
Her eyes flick between mine as though trying to read between the lines. “Why are you jealous of their freedom? What’s stopping you from taking what you want?”
“Fear.” I shrug when my answer surprises her. “I once told you I’m not afraid of anything, but that was a lie. I’
m afraid of a lot of things, but mostly I’m scared of hurting my one.”
Her cheeks color. “Your one?”
“Uh-huh, my one. I’m terrified of making the wrong move, of scaring her, of hurting what we have and becoming her nightmares. I’m terrified of breaking someone pure and perfect, so every time I think I can be brave and tell her how I feel, I freeze up with fear that my words will hurt her.”
Swallowing, she brings her spare hand up to play with the crystal I gave her. “You speak like she’s someone you know, not hypothetical.” The next singers on stage belt out tone deaf lyrics, but I hear nothing, I see nothing but her eyes. “She’s a real person?”
I nod. “She’s real. She’s so fucking perfect and beautiful.”
Shyly, she looks away and pretends to scan the crowd. “She’s here?”
“Yes, she’s here. She’s everywhere I am; her presence, her scent, her silly games and stupid riddles, because I think maybe she has a magnet in her heart, too. Maybe she likes me, too.”
“Maybe she does.” Worrying the crystal around her throat, I’m tempted to lean in and make it better. She’s scared. She’s as fucking terrified as I am, but things are changing. We’re so close, I can taste it. “Umm… You know that thing we did last night? The favor I asked you?”
“I got to kiss a pretty girl… As if I’d forget.”
Her cheeks flame red. Dropping her face forward, she cuts me out and allows her hair to cover her face. “Would you do it again?” Her voice quivers. “Would you be willing to kiss a friend again? Everyone is here having fun, so maybe we could…”
“A friend?” Don’t let it hurt you. You’re so fucking close. Push on. “No.” Her head snaps back painfully fast. “I can’t kiss you as a friend, Laine. I can’t do that again.”
“You won’t kiss me?” What was a trembling hand a moment ago now turns to full on shaking. “You don’t want to kiss me?”
I slide a hand around her neck and lean in closer, because the tears welling in her eyes hurt me. “Did you know there are approximately seven-point-seven billion people on this planet?” She leans back and watches me with watery eyes. “And of all those people, statistics say we’ll only meet 0.000001 percent of them in our lifetime.”
She watches me closely and waits for the hammer to drop. “That’s so few…”
“And yet, here we are.” Squeezing her hand, I take a step back, then another, then a third and drag her toward the dancefloor. She comes – shyly – so fucking uncertain her eyes almost spill over, but she comes. She trusts me. Her dress floats around her legs and her heels bring her up until I simply have to lean forward and take what’s mine.
Soon. So fucking soon.
Pulling her arms up, I force them around the back of my neck until her fingertips slide through my short hair and her chest presses against mine. “Seven-point-seven billion, Laine, but here we are in the same bar, same beachside town neither of us live in, on the same night, and we’re both pretending to be cool about something we’re not actually cool about.”
“Not cool with…” She swallows. “What do you mean?”
I lick my lips, a test, because I’m still fucking terrified. “The odds of us being in the same place at the same time are so miniscule, it must mean something, right? Why did the universe put us here when you could be with any one of seven-point-seven billion?”
“Well… Halve that, and round it up to four billion, because I’m not into chicks.”
I narrow my eyes.
“Because I asked you to come?”
Chuckling, I slide my hand over her ribs. “Try again.”
“Because I want to kiss you, too, but as more than a friend.”
There she is.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you,” I murmur huskily. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long, long time. You’ve been my every fantasy for longer than is appropriate, but I couldn’t turn it off. I couldn’t stop it no matter how much I tried.”
She steps closer. “Why did you try?”
My hand slides over the small of her back. I can’t stop it now. I can’t slow this train.
“Temporary insanity, maybe? I didn’t know if you wanted me, too? I was scared you’d laugh at me?” I shrug. “All of the above. I was terrified of breaking what we had, so I didn’t make a move. But now I know the statistics, I know how hard the universe worked to put us here.”
“Ang…” her voice cracks.
“I won’t force you, Laine. I won’t manipulate a damn thing from you.” Bravely, I drop a kiss on her jaw and smile when she tremors in my arms. “I’m Ang. I’m safe, and I’ll always be here for you. I want to kiss you again, but I want it to be because you want to kiss me, too, and not because you want to wash away someone else’s memory.” With both hands, I frame her face. “If we do it again, I want it to be more, because I’ve been in love with you for way too fucking long.”
We sway off beat to whatever is playing through the speakers, but she holds my arms, and I hold her face. Her eyes swim, but she licks her lips in anticipation.
“I’m so exhausted,” I admit. “I’m tired of pretending like you’re not everything I’ve ever wanted. You’re all of my dreams rolled up into one beautiful package, and I’ve been playing the friend role for too long.”
“Kiss me,” she blurts out. Her face drains white, but she doesn’t run. “Kiss me, because I’m a woman and you’re a man. Kiss me because I’ve been dropping hints for too long; because we’re in the same room at the same time, and finally, we see each other.”
“Yeah.” Smiling, I lean in closer and pull her up to meet me halfway. “I’ll kiss you because I love you. I’ll kiss you because I’m a man in love with a woman, and finally, it’s my turn.”
Our lips touch, similar to last night, but more potent. It’s slow, but in my head, it feels like I’m running a marathon. My heart feels like a hummingbird’s wings as her tongue darts out and slides over my bottom lip. Releasing her face, I circle her hips and pull her in until she can feel my solid dick between us. I can’t stop now, and I won’t lie to her, so I let her feel it all, swallowing her sigh when her arms circle my neck, and groaning when her fiery core straddles my thigh.
Her scent fills my lungs, her hair tickles my jaw, and the strawberry flavor on her lips intoxicates me until I can’t help but slide my hands over her ass and hold on tight.
Gasping, she breaks the kiss, but only to slide her tongue over my jaw. “This is better than last night. This is way better.”
Chuckling, I hold her close and bury my face in her neck. “I’ve waited so long for you, Laine. It’s better, because we’re not lying anymore.” I slide my tongue over her collarbone and give my thanks to the universe. “It’s better because you admit it, too.”
Stepping back, she breaks our contact – and the spell she’d bewitched me with.
My heart slams inside my chest when she puts space between us, but her hand slides into mine, her lips remain in a smile. Pulling me along, slowly, with a playful smile, she draws me through the crowd and out the other side until we reach the doors.
“Laine…”
“Come with me,” she whispers. “Don’t say no. Please don’t say no. Just say the love thing again, then come with me.” Pulling me through the doors and into the sea breeze, she pulls me along the sidewalk with shaking hands and a straight spine.
No words are spoken as we move the small distance between the bar and our hotel, but our body language changes. Instead of pulling me along, I bring her under my arm and luxuriate in the way she wraps her arms around my hips and snuggles in.
We move into the hotel foyer, past the fancy doormen, and draw eyes like everyone knows what we just did.
What we’re about to do.
We move to an open elevator and step in, then I lose my cool and crush my fist to the control panel for our floor. Laine giggles at my impatience, but she doesn’t peel her body off mine; she steps in until our legs are tangled and her heart pounds against my c
hest, then she slides her hands around to my ass, grabs on, and giggles. “I always wondered what your ass felt like.”
Chuckling, I lean in and nuzzle her neck. “You did? That’s… random.”
She pinches, then giggles when I bite her neck. “I really did. Did you ever wonder what it’d be like to make love to me, Ang?” I groan into her hair when she pulls my hips closer to hers. “Gliding in. Out. I’d grab on and let you use me up until I can do nothing but sleep.”
“Fuck….” I drop my forehead to her shoulder and groan when the floor numbers slow to a crawl.
First floor.
Second floor.
Third floor.
“Ang?”
“What?”
She snickers. “Did you ever wonder?”
“Yes.” I knead her ass in my hands and bask in the vibrations that work through her chest. Leaning in, I rest my brow on hers and study her eyes. “I thought about it so often, the guys would shoot me if they knew. I thought about you so often, we might as well just name my hand after you.”
Her eyes flash over my face. “Your hand? Did you touch yourself thinking of me?”
“Hundreds of times. Thousands.” I slide my tongue along her bottom lip and swallow her sigh. “The first time was after I drove you home after that asshole’s party. You were all wet and beautiful. Your top was see-through. Did you know that?”
With twitching lips, she brings her hands up to scratch the back of my neck. “Maybe I knew that. I didn’t throw myself in the pool on purpose, but I possibly would have if it made you look at my boobs more often.”
“Mmm.” I slide a hand over her ribs and stop on her full breast. “I always wanted to touch. I always wanted to keep you all for myself.” I lean in and pull her tongue into my mouth. Her nails dig in and a deep groan reverberates from her chest to mine, but then the elevator dings and that same elderly couple from earlier stop mid-step and eye us.
The lady – the judgmental bitch – clutches at her bag and harrumphs.