Page 92 of The Friend Game

“Oh no, I couldn’t,” Grant says hastily. “She should probably just come back to the table.” He looks up at her and starts gesturing with his hand for her to come down. Unfortunately Brooke is too busy looking at Donny and forcefully moving her hand horizontally across her neck in the universal signal to cut it out, to notice Grant beckoning to her.

“Not you either,” Donny says to a guy at a table in the front, ignoring Brooke. “No offense, but your rendition of Styx’s 'Lady' was a bit pitchy. It’s not your fault,” he adds as the guy plops down looking dejected. “Those are some tough notes. Brooke is right next to the piano now, but as sheremoves the mic from near her mouth to say something to Donny, his eyes light up and he looks right past her, continuing to ignore her protestations.

I wonder if Donny too will be out of a job after tonight. If so, he and I can start a support group.

“Look at this!” he exclaims. “We have a winner!” Brooke freezes, then, along with everyone else in the room, turns to see who it is walking up. I drop my cherry. It’s Will.

He saunters onto the stage with his signature amiable grin on his face. Brooke is staring at him like she recognizes him but can’t quite place him.

“What the he—” Grant starts to say, but his words are cut off by Sydney whooping.

“Yeah, Will!” she shouts, then lets out a whistle.

“Woo!!” Belinda joins in on the cheering. “Go, Will!”

The rest of the room catches on to his name and soon everyone is chanting his name.

“Looks like we have ourselves a karaoke knight in shining armor!” Donny couldn’t be more thrilled. Brooke not so much. She’s standing motionless by the piano, seeming unsure what to do. Will offers her his hand to shake, and she stares at it for a long second before finally accepting it. His grin widens and he uses his grip on her hand to pullher back toward the center of the stage. The crowd loves it.

Donny starts playing the song again, but Brooke looks less than enthused and misses her first line. Luckily the crowd supplies it for her, altering the first name a bit to fit the situation.

“Hey, Willy,” they chant.

“Yeah,” Will drawls back, but Brooke still isn’t having it. The crowd has to both tell Will about the party she’s having and ask if he wants to come. But then it gets to the singing part of Will’s part and Brooke’s head positively whips around as he croons, “Aww, baby.”

Will, as could be guessed based on his profession, has a really good voice. Brooke is a total sucker for a good voice. My kryptonite is athletic prowess; hers is vocal talent. Up onstage her shoulders start to shimmy and she steps closer to Will to declare that she’s having her a party.

Will, who’s been in this since the beginning, makes a show of saying he can’t come. Brooke goes all the way up to him now to convince him he’s going to want to come to this party. He crosses his arms and plays up his disinterest. When she says it’s going to be hot, he drops his arms and gives her his full attention.

They’re face to face now, both singing their hearts out. They make it through the refrain and as Brooke mentions him looking sexy in his socks,Will makes a grand show of kicking his shoes off, then slides across the floor.

The crowd is going wild, and I even see Brooke fighting a smile at his antics.

The only one not enjoying their performance: Grant. His jaw is clenched and his posture is growing tenser with every passing lyric.

“C’mon,” they croon back and forth as the song draws to a conclusion. They’re only inches away from each other now, and I have to say I can’t really fault Grant for being upset. The chemistry between them is palpable and undeniable. If I didn't know better I’d think these two wanted to kiss each other up there.

Donny plays the final notes of the song and for a second both Brooke and Will remain in position, staring at each other, chests rising and falling in tandem. The audience is up off their feet hooting and hollering.

“Give it up for Brooke and Will!” Donny shouts. His words must break whatever spell they were under, because they both hop apart, Will looking a little sheepish and Brooke looking completely mortified. I see her scanning the crowd for Grant, but he’s risen from the table and is stalking toward the exit. Brooke spots him and makes a mad dash after him shoving her mic into Will’s chest as she goes.

“Oh, um,” for the first time Donny sounds unsure, like maybe he’s finally realizing he made the wrong call pushing Brooke into singing a duet with a stranger. He clears his throat. “What a performance,” he says. “Thank you, uh, Will. That’ll be a tough act to follow, but we do have someone on deck brave enough to give it a try.”

Will nods at Donny, setting the mics back in their stands then striding over to the stairs. His grin is gone and he too looks concerned. He stops in the shadow at the bottom of the stairs to speak to the next singer. Thanks to the darkness, I can’t make out who it is, but goosebumps erupt across my arms and legs as some sort of sixth sense kicks in. A moment later my suspicions are confirmed as Luke sets foot on the stairs, bounding up them with the air of someone doing something they’re very nervous about.

“Is that—” Sydney gasps. “It is! Hannah, that’s Luke!” she tells me completely unnecessarily, grabbing me by the arm in her excitement.

I can’t even answer. I’m too stunned. Jill appears in front of me, a wild look on her face.

“Hannah, Max said Luke showed up at our house looking for you. I think he’s on his way over!”

“Wrong,” Sydney replies, pointing up onstage. “He’s already here.”

“Up next,” Donny begins as Jill whips around, “we’ve got Luke Abbott singing—” Luke stops next to him and puts a hand on his shoulder, halting his speech as he bends down to whisper something in his ear. Donny nods, then completes his introduction as Luke continues to the center of the stage. Jill sits down in Brooke’s vacant seat and shoves mascara into my hand.

“Maybe just a little bit,” she hisses at me. I ignore her. My body is way too jittery to apply mascara.

“Actually,” Donny booms, “my friend Luke has something he wants to say before he sings, so let’s give the man our listening ears!”

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