Cheers of approval from the audience started to reach my ears, giving me a boost. I jumped into the second chorus and began to bounce around the stage, finally daring to look up from the screen. Everyone was eating it up. I was rocking it. I was Taylor Swift at the Grammys. Beyoncé at Coachella. Ariana Grande at the Billboard Music Awards. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and I belted out the last verse.
The song ended to the raucous sound of cheers, clapping, and calls for an encore. I beamed at them and took a bow, feeling utterly exhilarated. Collin had been right. Performing in front of a live audience was totally different. There was nothing that compared to that thrill. And now, I knew for sure that I could do it.
In fact, I craved it. I had to go again.
But this time, I needed someone to join me.
“Ally, Ally!” I ran off stage to find her near the karaoke machine, her face shining with pride. “Can I do another song real quick? A duet?”
Understanding entered her eyes and she nodded eagerly, turning back to the computer. “I have just the thing. Get back out there.”
I hopped back on the stage to the sound of more cheers and shaded my eyes from the spotlight. He was still out there, somewhere. It was time for a little payback.
“I hope you all don’t mind, but I need Collin Preston to report to the stage immediately,” I announced into the mic, still scanning the crowd as they cheered. “Better hurry, before you chicken out.”
Some commotion to the left caught my attention. My eyes zoomed in on Collin approaching the stage, suspicion written on his face. He spanned the large step onto the stage with an effortless leap and approached me, his brow furrowed.
“What are you doing, Audrey?”
“Did I pass your little test?” I asked, holding my hand over the microphone to muffle our conversation. “Was that loose enough for you?”
His lips quirked with a smile and he shrugged. “Yeah, that was pretty awesome, despite your unfortunate choice in song.”
“Don’t be dissing on my girl,” I replied, biting back a grin. “But I think it’s time for a little payback.”
“What? Now?”
Music began pumping from the speakers. Collin tilted his head to one side, a disbelieving grin forming on his sculpted lips. Ally ran up behind us and shoved a microphone into his hand, before sprinting off the stage again.
“I’ve created a monster,” he said, bowing his head and rubbing the space between his eyebrows.
“Who would’ve thought this karaoke thing could be so much fun?” Adrenaline flowed into my veins again, making me jittery. “We might have to do this every night.”
Ignoring the look of mock horror Collin shot me, I kept my eyes on the monitor and smiled when the song title came up. Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Ally did have good taste. This was my jam. And Collin would’ve had to have been living under a rock if he didn’t at least know the tune.
Sure enough, as the lyrics on the screen turned blue for the male part, Collin grasped his microphone confidently and belted out the first few words to the sound of a twangy guitar.
Instantly, my jaw dropped. Collin had a raspy, deep tone as smooth as honey. He owned the song, as if he’d written it himself, and the intense emotion in his face blew me away. In just a few short lines, I could tell he was good. Really good. In fact, I’d never heard any guy sing like him. It was no wonder Mrs. Banks had picked him for the performance. He deserved it.
I would’ve been lost fan-girling over his voice for the rest of the song, if it hadn’t been for his shoulder bumping against mine right before my part came up. Oh yeah. This was a duet. Clasping the microphone tighter in my hand, I leaned into the notes and sang out Lady Gaga’s lines, to the very best of my ability.
Collin’s eyes were on me the whole time, his eyes glittering with a strange kind of emotion. I couldn’t look away from him. The way the stage lights hit him, sharpening the angles of his face and increasing the intensity in his gaze, mesmerized me.
No longer in need of the lyrics scrawling across the screen, we kept eye contact and sang together through the chorus. Electricity danced up and down my spine, making me shiver even in the heat of the restaurant. The connection between our voices was incredible. It was as if we’d been meant to sing this song together. And as I took the lead, Collin stepped back to give me the spotlight. He returned moments later to belt out the final few lines with me and our gazes locked again until the music faded away to nothing.
For a moment, I forgot that we’d been singing on a karaoke stage. All I saw was Collin, staring down at me with that intense look in his eyes, his chest heaving. I had the sudden desire to press against him. Claim that kiss that he’d owed me from the beach party. Liquid heat spread throughout my body at the mere thought and my cheeks flushed. Collin’s eyes flicked to my lips and I wondered if there was a smallest chance in the world that he was feeling the same thing, too.
But all of that was chased away by the sudden burst of applause from our audience. Collin blinked hard, as if he’d forgotten they were there. Chuckling nervously, he ran his fingers through his hair and turned toward the crowd to flash his infamous cocky grin. I shook my curls, as if awakening from a lazy afternoon nap. My head was fuzzy and my heart thumping loudly.
While Collin enjoyed the limelight, I held back, giving myself time to come down from that amazing high. Singing up here had been indescribable. There was no question now. This really was my calling. And Collin’s too. The energy of the crowd had flowed right through us. After a performance like that, I couldn’t wait to see what kind of song we put together. If we could sing like that on a karaoke stage, then we could definitely write a killer song for the performance. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but think that maybe Mrs. Banks really knew what she was doing when she put us together.
Only time would tell.
Chapter Thirteen
“She’s drooling again. Trina, isn’t she drooling?” Mandy leaned against the chain link fence surrounding the football field and gave me a smirk.
On my other side, Trina smiled softly and sighed. “Love stories are my favorite.”
“Guys, I’m not drooling and I’m definitely not in love.” I crossed my arms over my chest and gave them a surly look. “I’m just waiting for Collin to get done with his post-game meeting with the coaches. We’re supposed to chat about Mrs. Banks’ notes on our song.”
It had been two weeks since that karaoke night. There were no more spine-tingling moments of triumph to share in, but we’d gotten together at the park nearly every day since to work on the song. We’d come to an unsaid agreement to work together. He didn’t trash my ideas and I didn’t bulldoze him over. And it was working. Really working. Our songs were getting better. And Collin didn’t seem so cocky anymore.
We hadn’t talked much about karaoke night. Collin had driven me home shortly after our performance. I think he’d wanted to get me as far away from Ally as possible, especially when she started wagging her eyebrows at both of us at the end of our song.
He’d dropped me off at my apartment with hardly a goodbye. Didn’t even look at me. Just sped off on his bike, probably in search of a good time that didn’t involve the school mascot. It was a resounding reminder of the fact that I could never fall for a guy like him and he could never fall for a girl like me. I could comfortably say that we were now friends. That was it. Nothing more.
“Sure, whatever you say.” Mandy cocked her hip and placed her hand on it. “But I’m shipping you and Collin, for sure. You make a cute couple.”
“Don’t you have a track to go run?” I asked, vaguely amused.
She splayed her hand on her chest and gasped dramatically. “Trina, I think she’s trying to get rid of us so she can flirt with Mr. Hot Quarterback all by herself.”
Trina laughed and then shot me a guilty smile. “See you tomorrow at the Halloween shop after my volunteer shift at the hospital? We need to find our costumes for Susie’s party before t
hey’re all sold out.”
Every year, we looked forward to Susie Platt’s Halloween parties. She was a senior with us at Rock Valley and everyone who was anyone went to her party. It was a tradition. With the date just two weeks away, it was going to be harder to find what we wanted.
“Yes!” I pushed my wet hair out of my face, thankful that I’d had the time to take a quick shower after the game. Mascot stink was no joke. If I didn’t immediately wash it off, it sunk into my pores for days. “I’ll be there. Any costume that doesn’t involve a raccoon, I’m gonna buy it!”
They laughed at me as they walked away and I returned my attention to the field. Collin was still taking a knee with the rest of the football players on the fifty yard line, the coaches lecturing to them. It had been a tough game for our boys. We’d nearly lost. During the second half, Collin had been viciously sacked by the opposing team. I had to fight the strong desire to rush out there and make sure he was all right. It had been a brutal hit. But he’d managed to limp off the field and return to play a while later.
Still, I was looking forward to checking him over myself, just to be sure he was okay. That’s what friends did, right?
Moments later, the team clapped and hopped off the ground. They began to run toward the stadium exit, heading to the locker rooms back at the school. I leaned over the fence, feeling my heart do a little flip when I spotted Collin in the pack. He saw me too, and cut from the group to jog my way. The smile on his face was infectious.
“I barely recognized you without the tail,” he said, holding his helmet underneath his arm and dragging his other hand through his sweaty hair. Even after that mess of a game, he still looked like a Greek statue. “Or the whiskers. That raccoon is pretty sexy.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ha, ha, ha. Rascal the Bandit is now safely stuffed into the athletic closet. You’ll just have to settle for me.”
He leaned on the opposite side of the fence next to me, his shoulder grazing mine. “I’m more than okay with that.”
A thrill shot through me and I closed my eyes against the feeling, trying my best to brush it off. “So, how’s that knee? You went down pretty hard.”
“It’s fine. I twinged it, but I’ll live.”
“I wanted to run out onto the field and tackle that linebacker for you, he made me so angry. That ref should’ve called a penalty.”
Collin chuckled softly. “Now that, I would’ve liked to see. Audrey Black, coming to my rescue. What would the Rock Valley Biz have posted about that?”
My cheeks heated and I pressed my lips together. No doubt, they would’ve posted something awful or untrue. That seemed to be the case for us lately.
“Mrs. Black seemed to like some of our lyric changes,” Collin said, turning around to lean his back against the fence, his arms resting on top. “Think she’ll actually approve it before we graduate? Or are we doomed to never finish this project?”
There were three weeks left before our big event. So far, Mrs. Banks had scrapped our song choice three times in a row. She hadn’t completely turned down our newest version, but still hadn’t exactly approved it. In her words, we were still lacking passion. I had to pretend I knew what that meant.
The most passion I felt these days was passionate hatred for my cousin during cheerleading practice when she forced the squad to run laps on the outdoor track. She’d given us a lecture this week on something about adding slenderizing cardio to our workouts. As if I needed that, stuck in a furry mascot suit.
“I hope so. At this rate, we won’t have any time to practice the final song before the centennial event. It’ll be over before we know it.”
“Yeah, it’ll all be over.” He lifted his chin to look at the inky black sky above. The lights on the football field were still on, washing out the stars that usually shown bright this late at night. “I guess we should be happy about that.”
“Happy we finally get our evenings to ourselves?” I asked with a fake laugh. My heart was aching at the thought. I’d started to enjoy our time together. I liked making music with Collin. And when he wasn’t around all of his friends, he was actually pretty decent.
“Yeah.” He turned his head to glance at me, his eyes dark. “That’ll be nice.”
His words hit me in the gut, twisting like a knife. I tried not to grimace or show any emotion whatsoever on my face. I might have convinced myself that we were friends, but it was silly of me to think he’d felt the same.
Once again, I’d seriously overestimated the impact I’d had on Collin. He was the high school quarterback. The lion at the top of the food chain. I was the girl who invented up excuses to get out of party invites and spent far too much time in the music room. We were like water and oil.
“Audrey, I need to say something.” He turned to face me again, his brow wrinkled in deep concentration. Glancing up from his hands that were white knuckling the top of the fence, he searched my face. “I’m not sure if I should, but it’s been bugging me for a while now. Maybe you already guessed...”
I winced. I couldn’t help it. Was he going to end this good thing we had going? Was he already tired of writing music with me?
I tore my gaze away to look across the empty football field. “I have no clue.”
“Audrey?”
I thrilled when he placed his hand gently on mine. Looking up to find him staring down at me, I felt my pulse skyrocket. He was good. So good. He easily made my body forget that we were practically from different planets. And that I had a solid dislike of all jock-kind. Not to mention, the solemn swear I had made in middle school to never ever crush on a jock. Those kinds of things were Dixie Chick serious.
“This whole project has been great.” He caressed the tops of my knuckles gently with the pad of his thumb, sending all kinds of yummy feelings up my arm. “I don’t really want it to end. Do you?”
It was like someone else was pulling the strings when I shook my head. My body had completely disengaged from my nervous system.
He worked his jaw and swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the effort. “You see, I was wondering if...maybe we could...”
I waited for him to go on. The silence was brutal.
“I was wondering...if we could still play together after this is all over.” His words came out in a rush and he grimaced at the end.
For some reason, my chest deflated like a water mattress with a hole. I shouldn’t have been disappointed. This was what I’d wanted. Collin and I made great music together. It was nice to have a musical friend.
“Yeah, that would be nice,” I said, forcing myself to smile at him.
“That’s a relief. I don’t really have any other friends who play music,” he added, puffing out his cheeks. “So you know, I’m kind of desperate.”
A sour taste filled my mouth and I tilted my head to one side, trying to comprehend what he’d just said. He wanted to be friends. But only because he was desperate. Yeah, that cut like a rusty razor on the skin. No one wanted to be second best. Certainly not me.
I slipped my hand out from under his, trying to fight back the angry tears I felt forming at the corner of my eyes. There was no way I was going to lose it in front of Collin. That would be just the cherry on top of the night.
“Yeah, sure.” I stepped back from the fence, blinking rapidly to clear my eyes. “I’d better get going. It’s getting late and my mom doesn’t normally let me take the car, so she’s going to be extra freaked out if I don’t get home at a good time.”
“Audrey, wait.” Agony entered Collin’s voice and he bared his teeth in a grimace. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, that didn’t come out right—”
“Collin Sebastian Preston, is this Audrey?”
I turned to see a little brunette woman, with a plump figure and olive skin walk towards us. She had the brightest smile I’d ever seen and immediately I found myself wrapped up into her arms, with the scent of lavender surrounding me. My ribs groaned under her surprising strength and the moment she released me,
I gasped for breath.
“Collin’s refused to tell us much about you, young lady,” she said, holding me at arm’s length. “But we got the scoop from Ally. She said you were pretty, but I didn’t realize what a beauty my son was hanging around. It’s no wonder he hardly spends any time at home anymore.”
My mind whirled, trying to place this woman and if I’d ever met her before. I looked over at Collin for help. He was shaking his head, giving her a hopeless and horrified look.
“Gina, seriously?” he asked. “Do you have to be so embarrassing?”
“Embarrassing our kids is what we foster moms do best,” Gina replied unabashedly with a beaming smile. “I’d think you’d be used to that by now.”
He made a face and glared at her.
“Oh, don’t worry about Mister Grumpy Pants,” Gina said, laying her arm across my shoulders. “He always gets this way after a big game. Be thankful we didn’t lose tonight. He’d be impossible to deal with then. Gets as grumpy as a two-year-old who hasn’t had his nap. That’s when we send him to bed with a warm cup of milk and a binkie.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d never heard anyone talk to Collin that way. Not even his best friends. It was hilarious and almost softened the blow from our previous conversation. Almost.
“What do I have to do to end this soul-crushing encounter?” Collin asked, staring at his foster mom through heavily hooded eyes. “Please. I’ll do anything.”
“Invite your girlfriend over for supper this Sunday night,” Gina said, looking at me. “The family would like to get to know her. We’re all excited for your big performance.”
I waved my hands in front of my chest. “Oh, I’m not his girlfriend. We’re just singing partners. That’s all.”
I looked to Collin for some help, but was surprised to see his face fall and his mouth harden into a frown. Wasn’t this just what he’d been telling me? Why was he looking at me as if I’d just told him his dog died?
Dare You to Kiss the Quarterback (Rock Valley High Book 1) Page 9
