Page 44 of Devoted Enough

Josephine, Candice, and Lizzy all nodded in agreement.

I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse. That small voice in the back of my head tried to remind me of why it was that Nate didn’t want to touch me. Would he really be put off knowing that my father had abused me in the most horrible of ways? I wanted to think no, but his actions said otherwise. But the way he was looking at me earlier…oh, it was all so confusing.

The DJ got everyone’s attention after the last song ended. “All right, folks, it’s open mic tonight at The Blue Moose. Who is going to be the first person to come and sing?”

“Speaking of Nate,” Rosie said. “He won’t stop looking over here.”

The rest of the table all looked to where Rosie’s gaze was.

“Oh my gosh, you guys?” I said as I slid down in my seat.

“What is it about a guy in a baseball cap,” Lizzy said as she fanned herself.

“Aren’t you engaged, sis?” Rosie mused.

Lizzy stuck her tongue out at Rosie. “A girl can look.”

“He’s confused.”

Everyone looked at Candice.

“Who?” I asked.

She slowly shook her head. “Oh my God. It all makes sense now. That night, he hooked up with that girl to try to forget about you, Haven!”

Rosie clapped. “Yes! Classic guy move. Sleep with one girl to try and forget about another. But the way he looks at you, be still my heart. The boy is currently melting over you.”

“Nonsense,” I quickly said as I waved Rosie’s words away. “He doesn’t look at me any differently than he does any other woman.”

Candice snorted. “Please. The man cannot stop looking over here, Haven. You two like each other. Why aren’t you doing anything about it? I could think of worse guys to hitch my wagon to.”

“If that were me, girl, I’d be ditching my fiancé and be all over that tall, dark, and handsome man,” Lizzy stated.

Rosie stood. “Come on. I’ve got the perfect song for you to sing. You sing it all the time.”

“What? No!” I said as I pulled my arm free from Rosie’s grasp.

“What song is it?” Josephine asked, clearly excited to find out.

“That Kelsea Ballerini one!”

“Yes! Yes!” Candice said as she stood up with Rosie. Both of them grabbed my arms and pulled me up.

“Guys, I’m not going to sing.”

As they dragged me to the setup stage, everyone started to look as I actively tried to get away from my two best friends.

Rosie squeezed my arm. “You’re making a scene.”

“Me?”

“Hello, ladies,” the DJ said when we stopped in front of him.

“Do you have the music for that Kelsea Ballerini reimagined song?”

He looked at us like we were crazy.

I sighed. “‘Love Me Like You Mean It’, the reimagined version.”

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