Page 19 of Mitch

Nolan chimed in with his rescuing stance, as usual. “Guys, if he doesn’t want to, leave him alone.”

I had to admit, the pencil pusher was a nice addition to the group. Like Cade, he was a natural empath.

“Thank you,” Penn said as Dawson rolled his eyes.

We’d gravitated toward my friends, if only because Cade and company didn’t seem to take kindly to me keeping Cream Puff all to myself.

They are worse than a throng of teenage girls.

But there was a part of me that felt like maybe Penncouldfit in here.

With us.

Withme.

I watched him drain his third Angry Orchard, his pretty blue eyes sparkling with the glaze of good old-fashioned drunkenness.

At that moment, Will called him to the stage.

Penn’s eyes widened in shock, and Archie grinned.

“Archie... No...”

“And leave your adoring fans waiting?” he said with a dismissing wave.

I watched Penn bite his lip, weighing what to do.

I didn’t know his friend well—hell, I didn’t know Penn well—but from the little I did know, I had a feeling he was just trying to push Penn out of his comfort zone.

New experiences and all.

“I’ll go with you,” I said definitively, setting my drink on the table.

Penn’s gaze shot to me.

“What—”

“Just... let me do the singing, okay. You can just stand there and look pretty.”

I watched the blush spread on his cheeks as Archie grinned.

“I—”

“What are you waiting for, get up there!” Archie laughed, taking a sip of his beer as I headed up to take the stage.

I half expected even in my drunken state, that Penn would sit it out and let me take over, so I was thoroughly surprised when I heard his footsteps on the platform behind me.

“All right what did Archie Comics pick out for you to sing?” I drawled as I squinted at the teleprompter as Will queued the song up.

Into The Grooveby Madonna.

I cast Penn a glance, raising my eyebrow. “Didn’t peg you for a Madonna fan.”

But there wasn’t enough time for him to answer me. Not when the first few notes came across, and I had to speak into the microphone, “You can dance.”

I glanced at Penn, watching his glassy eyes focus on me and then the mic. Deciding if he wanted to be a pretty standby or part of the show.

I continued my first few lines, watching him with intent.

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