Page 107 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
Sawyer sat up straighter. “Did you know he could whistle like that?”
“I did,” Madison said, a proud tenor in her voice. “He’s like a little bird jukebox. His new favorites from my playlist are Pit Bull, Marc Anthony, and Daddy Yankee.”
Pierre gave a sudden explosion of noises, nodding his head to the beat.
“Isn’t that ‘Gasolina’?” Sawyer asked, his mouth parting. “I’m—”
“Speechless?” Madison extended her arm and Pierre gave a little boogie motion with his body.
“He dances?” Thea squealed. “I can’t wait to have him in my bakery. That’s so cool!”
Sawyer petted the parrot with a chuckle. “He’s seriously high on the evolutionary chain. Now, Pierre. Let’s go back to Celine Dion.”
When Pierre started whistling the theme song forTitanic,“My Heart Will Go On,” Dean almost fell off his stool.
Brooke pushed him upright when he sagged toward her, laughing. “Oh my God! We have a marketing powerhouse here. Pierre is going to bring people in right and left with this kind of thing.”
“He is not going to be the whistling entertainment at Nanine’s,” Madison ground out. “Over my dead body.”
“Don’t worry, Madison, we’re talking social media posts of special pics at Dean’s new place,” Kyle added with a winning smile, giving him a fist bump.
“He can sing at my bakery,” Thea declared as Jean Luc merely smiled.
Madison tapped the white marble countertop. “Can we return to an appropriate Celine Dion song for Dean to use to win Jacqueline back? Because theTitanicone isn’t about getting back together. It’s more like death sucks.”
Sawyer pulled out his phone. “I’ve got it. ‘To Love You More.’ First line starts withtake me back.”
God help him, Dean thought, wishing he were wearing a hoodie so he could pull it over his face.
When Sawyer started the song, Pierre started swaying at the whimsical intro and then began to whistle along with Celine. The violins dripped cheese in Dean’s humble opinion, and he wanted to cringe. Hard.
“I never had a Celine Dion phase,” he admitted gruffly as the others chuckled around him. “Come on, Pierre, there has to be another singer Jacqueline loves more.”
The parrot shook his head, continuing to whistle.
Madison leaned as far as she could reach to punch Dean lightly in the arm. “I think we have a winner.”
Was this what shock felt like? His face was turning numb. “Are you listening to these lyrics? It’s about a woman begging a man to come back to her.”
“So you change the pronouns.” Madison popped a fry in her mouth, grinning. “Pierre, is this the song to win Jacqueline back all the way?”
He enthusiastically nodded as he continued to whistle his heart out, craning his neck as he followed along. Any other time, Dean would have been spellbound by a parrot whistling Celine Dion, but his insides were gripping at the notion of playing this song like John Cusack back in the day—
“It’s just likeSay Anything,” Thea exclaimed, clapping her hands in that way of hers. “I’ve watched that movie a dozen times.”
“Along withThe Notebook,” Dean muttered, wishing they’d never brought up this topic.
Brooke nudged him. “I happen to know you ownThe Notebook.”
“Chicks dig it,” he white-lied, “so I have it ready—”
“I’m man enough to admit I enjoy that movie,” Sawyer admitted, reaching for his wineglass. “Women like sensitive men.”
“Not where I’m from,” Kyle said, popping a fry in his mouth.
“I don’t,” Madison admitted.
She and Kyle looked at each other before glancing away.
