Tonight was karaoke night at The Shack and our man, Flip, was here putting it down like the dedicated karaoke DJ extraordinaire that he was. We haven’t been back since the night the guys crashed our work get together, so we were due for some karaoke domination.
“Hope you guys are ready for a night with no shame whatsoever,” I warned.
Quinn hooped and hollered. “They had the option to stay home.” She downed her shot. “I make no apologies for my lack of singing ability or my choice in songs.”
“Babe, with your looks and body, no one is going to be listening to a goddamn thing you’re singing anyways,” Chase assured her.
She flipped him off.
I couldn’t be happier. I was surrounded by the best group of people I could ever know and the way we were all paired up was perfect. I knew my friends weren’t as cemented in their relationships as I was, but it was nice to fantasize about a perfect happily ever after for all of us.
I was contemplating which song would accompany my next five minutes of fame when Flip shocked the shit out of me with his karaoke announcement.
“And next up to our brave stage is Nick. Nick, come on up, bud.”
You know when you whip your head around so fast you get that painful rush of heated blood shooting through your neck? Yeah, that was me as I was whipping my head around while I witnessed Nick walking up to the stage and grabbing the karaoke mic.
Isabella sprayed her beer all over her blouse. “Holy shit, Ace. Does that say Justin Bieber?”
It did. It really did.
I sat there dumbfounded as Nicholas began singing As Long As You Love Me by Justin Goddamn Bieber. If I thought I was in love with him before that was nothing compared to how I felt about him now. It took everything I had not to run up on that stage and maul him in front of the entire bar.
“Marry him, Ace,” Quinn instructed. “Marry that man tonight! What I wouldn’t do...hmm, hmm, hmm,” she added dreamily.
We sat there and listened to Nick sing and when he was done, Q, Iz and I jumped up out of our seats and clapped for him like the karaoke groupies that we were. He made his way back to our table, but instead of sitting in his seat, he sat down in mine bringing me down to sit on his lap. “I love you, Imp.”
I was so caught up in this moment, I was sure I heard Flip wrong when he introduced Chase to the stage. “What the hell?” My head was doing a lot of whipping tonight.
“Quinn, babe, this is for you.”
I looked over at Q, and if I didn’t know her so well, I would have said she was unaffected by Chase’s gesture, but I knew better.
Chase started singing One Of These Nights by The Eagles and the way he was looking at Quinn as he sang, I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up pregnant tonight.
Damn, that man was sexy.
I knew it was a done deal when he finished singing and Quinn made no protest whatsoever when he pulled her out of her chair and kissed her like he was going to do it for the rest of his life.
Turning away from Chase and Quinn, I narrowed my eyes on Julian. “You’re the only one left.”
He smirked at me. “Not happening, sweetie.”
Isabella smiled and quietly took a drink of her beer. She remained silent for a full thirty seconds before Julian started dropping every curse word in existence.
He stormed off in the direction of Flip and snatched the mic out of his hand so roughly, Flip paled a little. Julian is a formidable sight, but an annoyed Julian is intimidating as hell.
And because it wasn’t enough that he was big and strong, because it wasn’t enough that he was mysteriously handsome, because it wasn’t enough that the man had dimples, it turned out Julian could actually sing. He started crooning It Will Rain by Bruno Mars and I was positive I had just become pregnant.
Holy Mary, Mother of God.
We sat and listened in awe as he sang this sweet song to Isabella. Once he was finished there was a heartbeat of silence throughout the bar and then the applause roared to life like a tidal wave. Julian had been amazing.
Isabella offered him a small smile when he plopped himself down next to her. He reached for a beer before he addressed her, “There’s only one other time I will ever do that again, Dove.”
“Oh, really? And when will that be?”
“Our wedding day.”
I melted and then I held my beer up in a toast. “To our beginnings. I love you losers!”
And I did.
The End.
Playlist
The Music Loving Playlist
Karaoke Night
Shake Your Tail Feather – P. Diddy
2 Of Amerika’s Most Wanted – Tupac and Snoop Dog
24 Karat Magic – Bruno Mars
No Diggity – Blackstreet
Nicholas, Chase, Julian Hate Fest
Fighter – Christina Aguilera
Problem – Ariana Grande
Avery’s Drive To Isabella’s
Broken – Seether
Emotion – Samantha Sang
Say Goodbye – Jordan Knight ft. Deborah Gibson
Wine Night
Bartender – Lady Antebellum
Same Old Love – Selena Gomez
Love The Way You Lie – Eminem ft. Rhianna
Company Party
Keep It On The Real – 3X Krazy
4 In The Morning – Gwen Stefani
Treasure – Bruno Mars
Epilogue
As Long As You Love Me – Justin Bieber
One Of These Nights – The Eagles
It Will Rain – Bruno Mars
About the Author
M.E. Clayton works fulltime and writes as a hobby. She is an avid reader and, last year, she decided to trade in some of those reading hours to try her hand at writing her first book. With much self-doubt, but more positive feedback and encouragement from her friends and family, the Seven Deadly Sins series was born and a hobby she is now very passionate about. When she’s not working, writing or reading, she’s being pampered by the best husband in the world, having heart to hearts with her son, giving her daughter life advice or spending time with her grandchildren If you care to learn more, please read M.E. Clayton’s Smashwords Interview at https://www.smashwords.com/interview/MonClayton
Other Books
Please visit your favorite ebook retailer to discover other books by M.E. Clayton:
The Seven Deadly Sins Series (In Order)
Catching Avery
Chasing Quinn
Claiming Isabela
Conquering Kam
Capturing Happiness
Stand Alone
Unintentional
In Enemy Territory
Contact Me
I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from you! Now, unfortunately, because I do have a fulltime job and a family I love spending time with, at this time, I’m afraid it would be very hard for me to maintain a multitude of social media sites. Therefore, my only contact information, as of yet, is available through Smashwords and Facebook. Here is my social media coordinate:
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