by Xavier Neal
After everything dies back down, the two of us get in line on the restaurant side of the building. We place our order and quickly rush to an open table we spotted, knowing it won’t stay that way for long. Thankfully, the spot we managed to snag not only gives us a good view of the customers on the market side, but the busy courtyard area where people are posing and dancing with the mascot.
I feel for that poor fucker. I really do. But I’ll be blatantly honest. Right now, I’m grateful more people seem concerned with taking his picture than mine.
Kadence pulls her attention away from the crowd outside and gives it back to me. “Can’t believe you made me catch that fish.”
“Can’t believe you called me out in front of everyone.”
She lets the corner of her lip slip upward. “You handled it well.”
The stroking of my ego causes me to sit up a little higher. “What can I say? When it comes to you, I’m always ready to rise to the challenge.”
A mischievous gleam thrums through her expression. “We’ll put that to the test after dinner.”
My mouth twitches, prepared to make a demand for more information when my dad interrupts, “Great show, Squirt!”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Kady’s face illuminates at the childhood nickname. “Squirt?!”
I do my best to bat away the embarrassment. “Since I was kid.”
“He was eye level to a starfish for the longest time,” Dad teases, hand giving me a solid pat on the back. “We were convinced he was never gonna grow.”
She doesn’t bother hiding her snicker.
“Then I did, and they kept the nickname anyway.”
“It had been over a decade of calling you that!” Dad argues. “You don’t just ditch a family nickname like that.” His eyes swing to Kadence’s. “Am I wrong, baby doll?”
On another laugh, she shakes her head.
“Since Squirt is acting like he was raised in the corral instead of a respectable home, I will introduce myself. Douglas Stone,” he extends his hand to shake, “but everyone calls me Dougie.”
“Kadence. Most people call me Kady.”
“I was going to make introductions,” I chime in, back hitting the chair.
He gives me a pat on the shoulder. “Sure you were, Squirt.”
Stop laughing at the nickname.
“Did you have a good time?” He asks my date.
Kadence immediately nods. “That was so much fun! What you guys do here is incredible!”
“First time to The Shack?”
“First time participating.”
The leak of information expands my smile. “Glad I could be your first.”
Her face begins to redden, which causes Dad and me to chuckle.
What do you expect? Gotta get those jabs in when I can.
A waiter appears at Dad’s side prompting him to depart. “Well, I should get back to work. Just wanted to say hi and meet the woman Squirt was willing to bring around his family.”
Kadence’s stare transforms to an inquisitive one, yet I ignore it. “I’ll try to stop by this week for dinner.”
“Bring Kady.” He winks.
The server places our trays in front of us, the shared chips and queso between us, and flags someone over to refill our water glasses.
As soon as the water man rushes away, she asks, “When’s the last time you let your family meet a woman you were seeing?”
I’m reluctant to answer.
Not a conversation I really wanted to have yet.
“It’s a been awhile.”
“Obviously.” The worry in her eyes pangs my chest. “You said you didn’t really date-”
“And I meant it.”
“-but I now need to know, for my own sanity’s sake, when was the last time you were in a real relationship, Levi? Dated for more than two days?”
“Those are two very different questions,” I mumble, picking up my taco, needing to busy my mouth with something other than the confession she wants.
To no surprise, Kadence doesn’t cave. She folds her hands defiantly in her lap and pins me with a demanding look.
I finish chewing and sigh, “The last time my family was ever around a woman I was involved with was seven years ago.”
“Seven?!” She squeaks. “Was this because of a curse from a broken mirror?”
Don’t laugh. Wasn’t funny.
“Once upon a time, I didn’t avoid relationships like I do now. Once upon a time, I was a sap. I was the guy who advocated for coming home to the same woman night after night. Who believed love could survive anything.”
Kady quietly questions. “What happened?”
“Anna left me.”
“Who was Anna?”
My lips press together hating the fact I have to say her name. Hating the fact I even have to think it. “Anna Young was my high school sweetheart. We started dating as freshmen in high school. Moved in together when we graduated. She started classes at a community college, managed to get a decent job doing desk work, and I kept pursuing acting. I rotated through shit jobs, because they were more flexible when it came to auditions. Money was always tight. Time together was always tighter. And one day….” I give the side of my face a scrub. “One day, I came home to an empty apartment and a note that said she wasn’t cut out to live like this. That she couldn’t handle ‘waiting around for my big break’ any longer. That she had been waiting for me to pick her over my career. That if I wanted to choose her instead of it she would be waiting for me at her sister’s.”
Kady’s shoulders fall.
“You can obviously see which one I ended up going after. Of course, I couldn’t afford the apartment we were living in when it was the two of us, which meant I definitely couldn’t do it alone, so that’s when Calen and I became roommates.” I try to lighten the tone in my voice. “It was a great time too. His was moving out to move in with his girlfriend, and I was moving in ‘cause my girlfriend moved out.”
An uncomfortable lull lands between us.
See what I mean about not being a great date subject?
All of a sudden, Kadence reaches her hand across the table and folds it firmly with mine. “It takes balls to chase a dream. A real dream. A dream with no guarantee of ever panning out. Some people can’t handle the impracticalness that chasing one can sometimes entail. I’m sure it wasn’t easy having to choose whether or not to keep pursuing your dream of acting or the girl of your dreams.”
“Never said she was the girl of my dreams,” I thoughtlessly interject.
Pretty sure she’s the one staring at me right now.
The blush that hits her cheeks this time fills me with unusual warmth.
“All I’m saying is I respect how you kept working at your career and didn’t just throw in the towel when life was rough. You stuck to your plans. You kept working at your goals. It’s admirable and a little sexy.”
My expression becomes playful. “You mean a lotta sexy?”
She rolls her eyes, snatches her hand away, and picks up her taco. “Tell me more about your family, Squirt.”
I grump. “Please, don’t call me that. It’s embarrassing enough that my parents do.”
Kadence snickers between bites, but makes no promise to comply.
The list of reasons to love her keeps getting longer and longer….Huh? I didn’t mean love. I meant like. You can’t love someone after only a couple of dates. That’s…a little too make believe, even for a guy like me who spends more time pretending to be in relationships than ever actually building one.
**
My arm drapes itself across her shoulder. “A dive bar, huh? Didn’t even realize these still existed in SH. Was pretty sure everything in this city was a chain or an upscale money sucker.”
Kadence slides her arm around my side and my cock unnecessarily hardens.
Shouldn’t get this turned on from basically a side hug.
“The trick with dive bars is the same as everything else in this city. It
’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And this one is courtesy of Maddie.”
“Maddie? She’s the lawyer right?”
“So you do listen to me do more than dirty talk.”
Listening to Kadence describe fingering herself during one of my breaks was the absolute best and worst decision I made all week.
Kady’s eyes lift to mine. “Wanna know the best thing about this place? They do karaoke on Saturday nights.”
I remove my touch to open the door for her. “Wait. Why is that the best thing?”
Her face grows a devilish grin.
This night is about to take another unwanted turn, isn’t it?
The two of us grab a round table off to the side of the large stage where a couple is already drunkenly crooning their guts out to “Livin’ On a Prayer”. The woman’s hair is wildly whipping back and forth while her husband head bangs slightly off beat. Despite their inability to get all the words into the microphone the crowd sings along and enthusiastically encourages them to keep rocking out.
Once we’ve placed a drink order with our waitress and she’s sauntered off, I turn my attention to Kady. “You sing?”
“Along,” she quickly answers and motions a finger towards the other patrons, “just like the rest of the crowd.”
“But never on stage?”
“No.”
I playfully poke. “Afraid?”
“Nope. You weren’t allowed to be afraid of that shit in my house.”
My head tilts in question. “Pushy stage mom?”
“Not exactly. My mother is a stage actress. She’s been in numerous musicals on and off Broadway. Before I was born she was quite often cast as an understudy, but the frequent distance put a strain on my parent’s marriage. When she accidentally got pregnant with me everything changed. Nowadays she either stars in local productions or joins the chorus cast for short tours, like one’s traveling the state as opposed to the entire country. But growing up, loving musicals wasn’t a choice. It was more like a commandment to obey. And not singing along, whether it was just the two of us or the entire neighborhood watching, was like committing the ultimate sin. Shyness was not an acceptable trait in my household.”
Disbelief drops my jaw. “Wow.”
Our whiskey and lime drinks are placed in front of us.
“Is that why you don’t date actors? Hits too close to home?”
Kady’s head bobs back and forth. “Between her and Henley, I know what most actors in the business are like.”
“Most.”
“Yeah...most.” She lifts her glass with a small smirk. “You, Levi Stone, are proving to be the exception.”
“You have no idea how much I really love hearing that.”
More and more every time she admits it. And I wanna stay the exception.
“What about you? Can you sing? Is that a skill I would find printed on the back of your headshot?”
I smile at the never ending playful punches. “Took one musical theater appreciation class in high school, which never required us to do more than analyze the emotions that were invoked watching recorded performances like Cats, and another one during the only semester at community college I somehow survived. The final for that required us to sing a few lines in front of the entire class. I didn’t fail but let’s just say thank God I’m pretty.”
The two of us exchange a loud round of laughter.
Afterwards, Kady casually says, “I wanna hear.”
“I’ll serenade you on the ride home.”
“Let you open for Nickelback? Nah….” She leans slightly forward at the same time she states, “Besides, I can’t wait that long. Sing for me here.”
My eyebrows pull together. “You can’t possibly be serious.”
“Is this going to be the dinner conversation all over again?”
Fuck, I swear this woman spends all of her free time creating hoops to see me jump through. Problem is, I wanna hop through of all them and receive the reward of her smiling. Shit….She’s turning me back into a sap. Can’t be that guy. That guy gets his heart stomped on and contemplates philosophical shit like is it better to have loved and lost than to have ever loved at all while hitting the bong. I can’t turn into him again. Too much in my bank account to lose.
My fingers tap the rim of my glass. “What exactly am I getting out of this performance?”
Kady’s expression brightens indicating she’s well aware I’m going to give in. Again. “What do you want?”
I remain quiet for a moment and stare at the woman I have no doubt I’d dive to the bottom of the ocean for without question. The thought instantly ignites an idea. “I sing for you in front of all these people and you join me back at my place for a soak in the hot tub.”
“No.”
The lack of consideration is expected. “Seems fair to me. Tit for tat.”
Her eyes narrow. “Except you’re not deathly afraid of public performances.”
“And I’m not convinced for a second you’re deathly afraid of hot tubs.”
She glances away rather than responding.
“Come on, Kady. Five minute song for five minutes in my hot tub.” When her eyes fall back to mine, I add, “Plus, your swimsuit is still at my place from last weekend, so you already have something to wear.” The scowl remains. “Oh and I didn’t need my shirt or shorts back in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.”
Silence oscillates between us imploring me to back down. To back off. To not push her away, which is what challenging her like this might actually do.
Here’s the thing. Part of me needs to know if I’m the only one here willing to sacrifice something for the sake of the other person. I already did that shit once. I’m not really looking to do it again. I did whatever I could to make Anna happy with the exception of throwing in the acting towel, and it was never enough. I don’t want that with Kady. I wanna know she’s willing to meet me in the middle or at the very least give, not just take.
She tosses the fallen strand of hair out of her face and lets out a seething sigh. “Fine, but I get to pick the song and I want a helluva performance. We’re talking dance moves and bring the crowd to their feet like this is fucking American Idol.”
Excited, but doing my best to contain it, I question, “What if I don’t know the song?”
Her smirk is vindictive. “Trust me. You will.”
On a scale of one to Insidious level of horrifying, how terrified do you think I should be?
I lift my glass and tilt it towards her. “Deal.”
Kady clinks hers against mine, and we both have a sip.
Almost immediately after we make our agreement, she struts away to the sign-up area. The instinct to be nervous begins to cultivate, however the sight of her slightly leaned over, giving me a very picture perfect shot of her ass, manages to stomp it out.
I’m probably just overreacting. How big of a challenge could she really make this? Wait. Why are you smirking like that?
A few minutes later my date plops back down in her seat with a huge grin plastered on her face. “You’re up after Cher.”
“What?”
“The next person is singing Cher. You’re after them.”
Just as I reach for my beverage a man dressed in drag takes the stage with enough confidence to rival the iconic pop queen herself. He flips his black wig hair off his shoulders and places his hands on his white sequin dress covered hips. “I just wanna say, I recently went through a tragic break up and never thought I would fall in love again.”
Fuck, am I supposed to monologue first?
“But I am here tonight to tell all of you, that I saw this dress yesterday, and am glad to announce I was wrong!”
The audience snickers at the same time they applaud the announcement.
“D.J.!” He calls with a dramatic finger point.
Opening notes to “Believe” fill the room accompanied closely by an explosive dance number. Not only does he match her pitch perfectly, h
e croons with so much passion it’s impossible to look away.
I grouse loudly, “I have to fucking follow this?”
Kadence cuts me a sardonic smirk. “Yup.”
Should’ve added stipulations to the fucking bargain like she had to be topless. Swear this woman is always three steps ahead of me in the contest department. It’s like she comes prepared with detailed plans to push me. Holy shit…does she?
