Page 79 of Hound Dog
Plus, I thought dressing up would make me feel more human in this hangover…
Experiment failed.
I felt far from human.
Even still, at least Ilookedhuman in my red and white floral maxi dress that billowed with the light breeze.
And makeup. Man, I’d missed makeup in my effort to keep Finn from getting the wrong impression.
I felt a little overdressed when I first walked up to the small restaurant. Especially when I saw Enzo in her slouchy jeans and button-down shirt. But when Addy walked in, all my nerves vanished.
Her scarlet hair fell in a sleek, straight curtain down to the middle of her back, and she pushed her sunglasses up to the top of her head, revealing her smoke-lined eyes and glittery purple shadow.
She beamed at us as she slid into the seat beside me and lifted the menu. “Hey guys,” she said, her voice raspy in an effortless rocker chick sort of way. “How’s everyone?”
I groaned and pulled my own sunglasses down to shade my eyes. There wasn’t enough makeup in the world to mask this hangover.
Addy’s eyes went wide as she stared at Enzo’s bloody mary. “Oh my God, that looks good. Who do I have to blow to get a bloody mary over here?”
Enzo’s brow arched as I nearly did a spit-take with my water. “Pretty sure you don’t have to blow anyone. Fridays are bottomless bloody days.”
“Oh, hell yeah,” Addy said.
I simply groaned and dropped my forehead to the table.
From above me, I heard Enzo say, “Haylee was just telling me she had four voice lessons already this morning.”
Addy’s eyes went wide. “Wow. You’ve been busy. You must be exhausted.”
I lifted my heavy head. “I’m exhausted from drinking too much last night, not from teaching or belting out karaoke tunes. I’m going to have to forgo the free drinks next time. And I probably shouldn’t do the karaoke thing when I have lessons the next morning.” I whined, then took a sip of water and stretched out my fingers. “My voice can usually handle multiple lessons, but my hands are another story.”
“Hands?” Enzo asked.
I tapped my fingers to the table like I was playing an invisible keyboard. “All the piano playing. I swear, I’m going to have arthritis by the time I’m thirty.”
“So, your hands will ache, but your voice won’t?” Addy asked.
I shrugged, setting the menu down. I already knew what I wanted since I’d looked up the menu online before arriving. An old trick my mom and I used to do everywhere we went… and old habits die hard.
“I mean, I’m not the one singing the whole lesson. I’ll sing some to demonstrate something, but it’s mostly them singing. Even still, singing for three hours shouldn’t be too fatiguing for a trained voice.”
Addy grunted and fell back in her chair. “Not for me. Before I hired a DJ, I had to handle the karaoke nights, and it nearly killed me. Hell, even just talking as a bartender and shouting over the music kills my voice. Hear how raspy I am today?”
“Are you raspier than usual?” I asked. “No offense, you just usually sound like you’ve got that sexy jazz voice thing going for you.”
“I didn’t used to sound like this until I started working at the bar full time.” Addy winked at me and stole a sip from Enzo’s bloody mary.
“Well, don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I’m happy to help out on karaoke nights for as long as I’m in town. I just won’t drink every night.”
Addy gestured to our server that she wanted a bloody mary, too, then looked back at me. “Seriously, anytime you want to pop in, you’re welcome to it. It’ll save those poor audiences from having to hear me sing on occasion.”
“I didn’t know you sang.”
She shrugged. “Some. I’m not as good as you, but I can get up there and belt some Fleetwood Mac when I need to.”
“I could help you, you know—I could give you some lessons on the house. It’ll help you preserve your voice when talking, too.”
Addy smiled at me and took a sip of her water. “Thanks, but I can’t ask you to do that.”
