Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 128417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
I put my hand into my pocket and finger the edges of the poker chip sitting there. Now would be a fantastic time methinks. We’re all nice and loose. I look at my watch. We’re not due at the laser tag emporium for another hour. All is going perfectly according to plan.
“Excuse me for a second,” I say, unclasping my hand from Kat’s. She doesn’t bat an eyelash—apparently too enthralled with the train wreck unfurling onstage to care about where the heck I’m going.
I move across the room to the karaoke DJ, wading through clapping, screaming, hooting people, all of them hurling love with both arms at Jonas and Sarah, and make my way to the DJ.
“Hey, man,” I say. “You ready to do that thing we talked about?”
“Whenever you are, bro.”
“Okay. How about you do one song after Sonny and Cher for whoever else and then we launch into my thing?”
The DJ grabs the piece of paper I slipped him earlier (along with a fat tip that ensured there’d be no waiting all night long for anyone in our group). “This still what you want me to say?” he asks, looking at the short script I gave him.
“Yeah. Hey, can you hand me that scarf I stashed earlier?”
“Sure.” He grabs the scarf behind him. “Fucking hilarious, man,” he says, handing it to me covertly. “You think she’s gonna ham it up? Or will she chicken out?”
“Oh, my girlfriend never chickens out about anything—it’s not in her DNA. Did you see her doing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’? She’ll ham it up for sure.”
“Cool. Okay. One more song after Sonny and Cher and then we’ll do it.”
“Thanks.” I stick the scarf in the waistband of my pants, hidden by my jacket.
The guy looks up at Jonas and Sarah, singing their adorkable hearts out, and chuckles. “Man, this guy’s horrible—absolutely atrocious. Pretty much the worst I’ve ever heard and I’ve been doing this a really long time.”
I look at my brother and grin. He’s totally outside his comfort zone right now—sweating bullets, moving across the stage like a gorilla with hemorrhoids. God, he’s awesome.
Out of nowhere, my stomach clenches vicariously to think about what he’s about to do next week. He’s taking a huge fucking step—the hugest step known to mankind—but, damn, he sure looks happy. Hard to argue a guy off doing anything that makes him smile that fucking big.
“Yeah, he’s terrible, huh?” I say. “Gotta love him.”
I head back to our table, my fingertips toying with the poker chip in my pocket, and sit back down next to Kat. She’s clutching Henn’s forearm, tears of laughter streaming down her cheeks.
Jonas and Sarah reach the slow finale of their song and the entire place erupts into a standing ovation.
When the song is done, Jonas dips Sarah dramatically, kissing her like no one else is in the room, and she comes back up red-faced and giggling.
The waitress pays another visit to our table. “Another round?”
“Yeah,” I say absently. “Why the fuck not?”
Jonas and Sarah make their way back toward our table while two young, toker-looking guys get up onstage and start singing “American Pie.”
“Awesome, bro,” I say to Jonas when they return to our table and plop themselves down. “I can die a happy man now.”
“Never again,” Jonas says. “That memory’s gonna have to last you your whole life long.”
“How the fuck did you get him up there, Sarah Cruz?” I ask.
Sarah shrugs. “I’m magic, Josh Faraday.”
“Sarah and I had a little bet and I lost,” Jonas says. “I’ll never bet against her again, I swear to God.”
I look at Kat and she flashes me a smart-ass grin, obviously telling me, “See? Never bet against a woman.”
“What was the bet?” Kat asks.
“Oh, the details aren’t important,” Sarah says. “But let’s just say I held onto my title in the underwater breath-holding Olympics.”
We all look at each other and make a face. Clearly, this is a sexual innuendo of some sort, and God knows we don’t wanna know.
“Well, you were awe-inspiring, big guy,” Henn says.
“Hey, Kitty Kat, you haven’t gone in a while,” Hannah says. “What are you gonna sing next?”
“Oh, I dunno. You wanna do another duet, Josh? A little ‘Islands in the Stream,’ perhaps? Or am I flying solo?”
“Yeah, a duet for sure,” I say, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I can’t let Kat go up there again and ruin my little plan. “But let’s give it another song or two, okay? I’ve got drinks coming for us.”
Kat leans back. “Sure. So, hey, Henny, how long are you in town? You and Hannah wanna do dinner with Josh and me Sunday night before Josh heads to the airport?”
“Sorry, leaving tomorrow. I’ve got a job in Munich, actually.” He looks at Hannah. “But after that I’ll be home in L.A. for a good long stretch. Maybe you and Hannah can come visit Josh and me together and we can all go out in La La Land?”