Page 56 of Campus Crush
“That can’t be good,” Gordy muttered, watching them go.
“What do you think they’re up to?” I asked Foster.
He sighed. “With those two? Who knows. They could be going to flirt with girls they saw or planning something diabolical.”
I looked over my shoulder. They hadn’t even gone near the bathrooms—they were lingering by the karaoke table, laughing like they’d just pulled off a heist.
When Liam and Drew returned a few minutes later, they were both wearing identical shit-eating grins.
Foster narrowed his eyes at them. “Why do you two look like that?”
“Like what?” Drew asked, the picture of innocence.
“Like youjust?—”
Before Foster could finish his sentence, the emcee’s voice boomed through the speakers.
“Alright, folks! We’ve got a special request tonight. Can I get Foster Kane up here to sing for us, please?”
Foster’s face went pale, then red. “You didn’t.”
Liam and Drew burst into laughter.
“Oh, we absolutely did,” Liam said, looking far too pleased with himself.
“Come on up, Foster Kane!” the emcee called again. “Don’t be shy! Your friends tell me you’ve got a special song to sing for a special someone.”
All eyes in the bar turned to our table, and I felt my own face heating up as Foster slowly stood, looking like a man headed to his execution.
“I’m going to kill you both,” he muttered to his friends before making his way to the stage.
THIRTY
I could not believe they did this.
The emcee grinned at me as I approached the stage, his eyes twinkling with mischief that matched the expressions on my so-called friends’ faces.
“What am I singing?” I asked through gritted teeth, already dreading the answer.
The emcee leaned in and whispered, “Your boys picked ‘Sparks Fly’ by Taylor Swift. Said it was perfect for your situation.”
My eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nope.” He handed me the microphone. “Good luck, buddy.”
I turned to glare at Drew and Liam, who both shot me enthusiastic thumbs-up, their shit-eating grins wide enough to split their faces. Even Gordy was smiling, and that guy was normally as stoic as they came.
Traitor.
But it was Abby’s expression that caught and held my attention. She looked mortified on my behalf, her cheeks flushed pink, but there was something else there too—curiosity, maybe even anticipation. Our eyes locked for a brief moment before the opening notes of the song started to play.
Well, I was already up here. I could either half-ass it and be embarrassed, or I could own it and maybe use this ridiculous situation to my advantage.
I took a deep breath and made my decision.
If I was going to sing a Taylor Swift song in front of a bar full of people, I was going to sing it to Abby. Because honestly, she was the only girl I could ever imagine singing a romance song to.
The lyrics appeared on the screen, and I started singing. I wasn’t great—I definitely wasn’t going to win any singing competitions—but I wasn’t terrible either. And what I lacked in vocal talent, I made up for in enthusiasm.
