Page 41 of Falling With a Spin

I don’t even know where to start. I need to press a reset button on my entire life. I need this pain to go away. I need Caleb to understand that what I'm doing is best for him. I need a night to let loose and just forget everything. The list is endless at this point.

“I’m not sure right now, Tay. I'm just so tired, and I just want to have a night to relax and not have to think about anything.”

Turning my head, I look at her, and she has a wide grin on her face. I can see the mischief dancing in her eyes.

“Taylor, what are you thinking?”

“Well, I have been thinking that we haven’t done Karaoke in a while,” She gets up from the couch, sliding across the living room floor, and pops her hip out. “I haven’t shown off my smooth dance skills and my amazing vocals in what seems like forever.” She grabs my hands, pulling me off the couch. “You can invite Hunter, and maybe he’ll bring his friends.”

The smile on her face becomes wider, except there’s something behind it that I can’t quite pinpoint.

Uncertainty fills me. Would Hunter really want to hang out with me outside of tutoring? He’s my tutor and nothing more.

You know what fuck it.

“Okay, yeah, I will do that right now.” I grab my phone and pull up our messages. I laugh when I see the new contact name for him, Hunter, The Most Amazing Lead Singer and Tutor. I swear this man gets more and more obnoxious by the day. I type out a quick message letting him know that we will be at The Bad Booze and Tunes at six-thirty pm. Within seconds, my phone rings, and Hunter's flashes across my screen.

I press accept, put the phone on speaker, and place it on the table. “Let me guess, you’re calling to tell me that you have better plans than hanging out with two girls who can’t sing for shit?” Taylor picks up the pillow on the couch, throwing it at me. I jump out of the way right before it hits me.

“You know you invited a whole band to Karaoke, right?” He questions, and I roll my eyes at the obvious.

“Yes, I'm aware of that, but you can’t use your special talents. It has to be raw and rough.” I say, looking up to see Taylor wiggling her eyebrows. My eyebrows shoot to the ceiling, “Oh my God, that's not what I meant at all.” I drag one hand over my face, figuring out how I can take this back.

“Emma, it's fine.” I can hear roaring laughter through the phone.

“Okay, well, will we see you tonight?” I ask, secretly hoping he has no plans.

“Of course I will- we will be there.” A smile comes to my face.

“EMMA EMMA EMMA EMMA. OH MY GOD.” Cole starts yelling for me on the other side of the phone.

“HUNTER HAND THE PHONE OVER I NEED-” The line goes dead, but whatever it is that Cole needs, he can ask me later, I guess.

I place my phone on the glass table and turn towards Taylor, “They’ll be there.”

“Okay, great, we have a couple of hours. Why don’t we just relax until we have to get ready?” Taylor sits back down on the couch, flipping through the TV channels, landing on an HGTV home makeover rerun. “But I'm choosing your outfit tonight.”

We pull into a parking spot at The Bad Booze and Tunes, and I see Hunter and the boys standing outside. Hunter is wearing a black T-shirt that fits him like a glove and a pair of blue jeans. What I notice is that he never really wears a hat. His jet-black hair is always natural as if he does’t try at all.

Hunter throws his head back, laughing at whatever Garrett is saying, and I catch myself smiling at him.

Fuck. Hunter looks good tonight.

No. Stop it. You can’t think that.

Opening the car door and stepping out, I let the light breeze from the fall weather hit my skin. I close my eyes and tilt my head back, breathing in the air, letting it calm me.

Opening my eyes, I see Taylor making her way over to Garrett. His arm wraps around her waist as Cole asks her a serious question, and she can’t stop laughing. Justin stands next to them, looking down at his phone, brows furrowed in concentration. I look around for Matt, not seeing him anywhere; he must be inside getting us a room.

All the air in my lungs vanishes when my eyes lock onto a pair of baby blues. Hunter pushes off the hood of his car, walking straight to me.

“Hey,” He says, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, giving me a small smile.

“Hey,” I smile, tilting my head back to look at him.

“You look gorgeous tonight.” The compliment has me taken back. My heart stops a little at it, and my smile widens.

I’m wearing a white long-sleeved crop top and black high-waisted jeans that Taylor picked out. Pairing it with my brand-new Chuck Taylor. Taylor insisted on curling my hair and doing my makeup. I told her to keep the makeup light after trying to convince her that I preferred not to wear any.

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