Page 26 of The Comeback

“Later. We’re on a timeline.” Her hand is soft and it feels a little too perfect entwined with mine. It’s not like we haven’t held hands before. We used to do it all the time. Those innocent clasps between friends certainly didn’t feel like this. An electric vibe starts in my palm traveling up my arm.

She keeps glancing over her shoulder at the books as I lead her to the back of the store. We turn down a hallway and pass the brightly painted bathroom doors until we get to a nondescript door at the end with an employees only sign. Aspen lets us through at my knock and we pass into the restaurant side of the store. I give him a backslap bro hug.

“I really appreciate this, man.”

“Anything for you.” He turns to Abby and holds out a hand. “You must be Abby. I’m Aspen. Think of me like an upgraded version of this guy. Better looking, better at hockey. Just better in general.” He gives her a wink and I reward him with a punch in the shoulder.

“You wish.”

“Follow me. We’ve got you all set up over here.” He takes us to a back corner of the empty restaurant where a small stage is tucked away. A microphone and amp are ready and waiting.

Abby’s blue eyes have darkened to the color of a storm tossed ocean and she looks at me with terror. “You want me to sing in a restaurant? I’m not… I’m not ready for that.” She starts to back toward the exit.

I pull her back in and wave my hand around the empty restaurant. “There’s no one here, Frosty. It’s all yours.”

“What? You…you rented a whole restaurant for me? That’s too much.” Love that she didn’t even notice that nickname I slipped in there.

“I had the family discount of free. That’s why we only have an hour, though. Saturday night is their busiest night.”

“Family discount? I didn’t know you had family that owned a restaurant, and bookstore too? You’ve been holding out on me.”

I snorted out a laugh. “No, not like blood family. Team family. Aspen’s parents own the place. Jordan’s mom owns the attached bookstore.”

“Oh, gotcha.”

She’s still staring at me in awe, so I pull her forward toward the stage. “Go on. It’s all set up for you. They have live music on Thursdays and Fridays, so everything should be good. You can give it a test or whatever you need to do.”

Her steps move from hesitant to confident as she moves toward the stage and settles behind the mic. She pulls it out of the stand and gives it a tap. “Testing, testing.” Her voice rings out clear and strong, but she takes a step back to fiddle with the amp for a minute. My eyes follow her hands as they smooth her skirt back down before picking up the mic again and singing a quick scale.

The sound of her voice cuts straight through me. It hits me all over again how much I’ve missed that beautiful sound.

Chapter 19

Abby

Iglancearoundonemore time before I pick up the mic again. Aspen melted back through the door we came in, so the restaurant is indeed empty of anyone but myself and Sebastian. He’s staring up at me those jade eyes dark with an emotion I’m afraid to identify. I focus on those familiar eyes as I let the first notes of a scale escape. Happy with the sound I pause. He seems to understand and gives me a nod of encouragement.

I got this. Singing doesn’t scare me. It’s the singing in public thing that does. I hold his gaze steady as I let the words I wrote about him and about us fly.

My heart soars as the melody ebbs and flows. I wrap it up and look back at him. We still haven’t gotten the last verse right. Dax is happy with it but I’m not. It feels unfinished. Sebastian doesn’t seem to think so. The muscular hockey player that he’s become is clapping and he’s got my favorite goofy grin on his face.

“Encore he calls out.”

I laugh, but launch into another song.

I’ve been so lost in the music I didn’t realize Aspen had wandered back in with his arm slung around the redhead from the bookstore. Jordan. Her face is open and friendly with a sprinkling of freckles and a soft smile.

My heart picks up a little and my voice falters when I realize I have an audience. No matter how small it is.

Sebastian hops up on the stage with a graceful leap to stand in front of me. His big hands swallow up my face as he cups my cheeks and tilts my head up to meet his eyes. “You got this. Friendly audience of two. Just look at me. Don’t worry about them.”

My palms are sweating, but I do as he suggests, squeezing the mic in a tight grip. The first lines come out a little wobbly until he shifts one hand to grip my hip. A bolt of lust blocks out all the other panicked emotions that were starting to well up, and I smooth out my voice, singing for him and him alone.

I’m so caught up in the feel of his hands burning through my clothes that I get through another few songs staring into his eyes. Flecks of light jade dance around the edges of his pupils bleeding to a brighter emerald color. Dangerous. I could get lost in those eyes all over again. The sound of clapping startles me out of my musical trance and I pull away. My heart races when my gaze falls on the small crowd that’s gathered in the restaurant.

Rewrite this section to include a slow addition of people Gandalf style until there’s a small crowd of hockey boys. Still panics a bit and runs off. Flashes back to her worst high school memory, but gets through it. And accuses Seb of Gandalfing her.

A piercing shriek rings through the air when the mic hits the ground as I panic and take off, breathing hard. I run past the group of large guys and bolt out through the bookstore. Not even the allure of new books is going to stop me now.

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