Page 294 of Rock Me All Night
30
We driveto a luxe karaoke joint in Korea Town. The place is lit in soft shades of blue and gold. A twenty-something dude in a button-up black shirt points us to a room at the end of a long hallway. He doesn't look at us funny, like it's strange a rock band is congregating in a private karaoke room.
Not strange at all.
Drew runs his hands over my inner thighs. He takes his time to trace three of my scars. It's careful, like he finds them fascinating instead of off-putting, like they only make him want me more.
It's funny. When I'm with him, I forget all about the scars.
I'm not a poor, damaged girl. Maybe a girl driven mad with lust and some other l-word she can't admit.
But not poor, damaged Kara.
He removes his hand, tragically, to push the door open. Meg jumps to her feet and rushes to me.
"Thank God. I thought I'd have to hear Tom and Pete do another duet." She throws her arms around me. "Your brain working yet?"
"If I never see another Scantron again, it will be way too soon."
"Ditto." She turns to Miles. "Only one more quarter of college."
"And then four years of med school," he says.
"You're no fun." She sticks her tongue out at him then looks to me. "Miles refuses to sing, which means—" She points to Pete and Tom and shakes her head.
"You don't sing?" I ask.
"Not for free." He turns to Meg. "Except maybe for you, babe."
"Uh-huh."
"But it wouldn't be fair to get you dripping wet then make you wait all night to fuck me." He slaps her ass. "Now would it?"
"I could live with it," Meg says.
He picks her up and spins her. They fall onto the couch, Meg landing perfectly in Miles's lap.
Tom flips through the karaoke book. He points something out to Pete. They share a look of glee.
And then Pete nods. "Okay, okay. I'm more than happy to rise to this particular occasion." He winks at me and Meg. "And many others."
"He and the girlfriend are on a break," Tom says.
"Why don't you shut the fuck up," Pete says.
"Tom, why are you so obsessed with other people's relationships?" Meg asks. "Like first you pulled that shit with me and Miles. And now you're meddling with Pete. And I'm sure you—" She looks at me, then clears her throat like she didn't say anything. "You're a manwhore. What do you care if other people are settling down?"
"I want what's best for my friends," Tom says.
"Yeah, what you think is best," Meg says.
Miles pulls her closer. "Babe, Tom is as stubborn as you are. This is not an argument you're gonna settle." He kisses her neck. "How about you let him work himself into a fit?"
"You happy with how things turned out or not?" Tom asks.
She nods like he has a point. I guess he does. Whatever Tom did to fuck things up between Meg and Miles, they're happy now. They're gooey, madly in love.
Tom opens a bottle of whiskey and pours shots for everyone except Miles. He passes them around the table. Each slides, smoothly stopping near the intended shot taker.
