For the next several days, Luca didn’t leave my side other than to go to work. He refused to sleep on the bed with me, and opted to take a pallet made of blankets on the floor. My medicine schedule stayed on track along with him checking my fever until it broke. It meant a lot, considering that he was uncomfortable during the entire process of me regaining my health. Although he never said anything about it, his body language was clear. Sometimes I would have to fight my laughter at how rigid he became handing me the tiny cup of cough-suppressant liquid.

Nonetheless, he managed to break through one of my fears without knowing it. He allowed me to become vulnerable. At first, I hated it. I wanted him there, but at the same time I wanted to push him away.

But how could I push away a man that tried to recreate my mother’s vegetable soup? It wasn’t nearly as good as hers, but coming from him, I would take it over anyone else’s any day of the week. And to find out about his mother… It explained so much about how guarded he was. No wonder he didn’t do relationships. It made me value what we had even more.

I stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and ran it across my face. Beads of water ran down my back and hit the floor. Someone knocked on the door so hard it rattled at the hinges. I jumped and toppled over before hitting the wastebasket. “Who is it?” Irritation grated against my nerves. Bri had another bathroom. She didn’t need to beat the door down to get in here.

“You okay?” I jumped at the sound of Luca’s voice. I wasn’t expecting him here for at least another hour. Instantly, I wrapped the towel around my body like he had developed the sense of seeing through walls.

“Fine. You just scared the hell out of me.” I sighed, trying to steady my shaking voice. My heart still beat like an erratic drum against my chest.

“Good. I thought tonight would be a good time to go out. You’ve been cooped up, so fun is definitely needed.”

“Oh, is that what the doctor ordered?” I reached in the drawer and pulled out the brush.

“It’s what I ordered. And if you disagree, well, it’s back to bed for you.”

Lying in that bed was the last thing I wanted. I was all about getting rest, but so many days in a row were too much. I was stir-crazy, and going anywhere sounded amazing.

“Be out in a minute.”

“Okay.”

I quickly dressed and put on a little makeup before I dried my hair. I studied the reflection. Much better. He had seen me at my worst. If I hadn’t scared him off the past few days with that matted greasy hair and skin I was rocking, I didn’t think anything would.

I opened the door, walked to the living room, and found him sitting on the couch.

“Ready?” He put down the magazine he was looking at. People. Somehow that didn’t seem like his normal reading material. “I got somewhere fun in mind. I think you’re going to enjoy it.” He smiled but quickly drew a hand over his face, obviously trying to hide it. He seemed to be getting way too much joy from whatever he was talking about.

I stopped, putting a hand on my hip. “Where are we going?”

His head tilted as he came closer. “It’s a surprise.” He held my hands in his. “What? You don’t trust me?”

“Not when you look like that.”

He laughed and turned, pulling me along behind him. He didn’t drop my hand until we reached his truck. I reached for the handle, but he slapped my hand away. “A girl isn’t ever supposed to open her own door when a man is around.” His hand curled under the latch and guided the door open.

“Yes, sir.” I climbed in, giving him a small smile as he closed it behind me.

He walked around to the driver’s side and slid in.

A moment later, the truck roared to life, and we were on our way to wherever he had in mind. I stared out the window, unable to keep the smile off my face. That was, until I saw the sign as we slowed and his blinker flipped on.

Karaoke.

The parking lot was full of cars, most not even in a parking place. The bass coming from the building even overpowered our music in the truck. I sank low in my seat, wracking my brain on why he would be bringing me here. Think. Think. The list. What was on it that he would be making me do?

Public speaking.

Being in front of a crowd.

My stomach knotted. There was no way he was thinking this would help me overcome that.

We stopped, and he turned the truck off. “Ready?”

“Ready for what exactly?”

He laughed and opened his door. “Hurry. You’ll be late.” I opened my mouth but didn’t get a chance to ask what I was going to be late for. A second later, he was at my door. “No questions. Just walk.”

We wove through the cars and went into the dimly lit entrance. People crowded the doors, not bothering to move to let us pass. Luca shoved between, creating a hole for me to follow him. He stopped at the opening of the main room.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re singing tonight.”

“You mean I have to get in front of all these people and…” I choked, the last word lodging itself uncomfortably in my throat. I looked across the room, not stopping too long on one specific person.

The room was full. Each round table was crowded with people chatting and laughing. Smoke curled through the air, catching blue and red strobe-lights that danced across the floor in the beat of the music. The girl on the stage danced, twirling around while her arm waved over her head. Her voice was scratchy and hurt my ears.

But she had something I didn’t. Confidence. Karaoke wasn’t about sounding great. It was about commanding the audience. And this girl had it. More than anything I wanted it. Jealousy ate away at my insides as the crowd screamed out, singing with her. But I would never have it. I was the face people met and in the next second forgot. Trust me. I knew. It had happened several times before.

My stomach sank as I shifted my feet back. I hit something, stopping my nonchalant attempt at ducking the hell out of there. My arm tensed. For a moment I considered elbowing whoever was behind me. Maybe I could outrun Luca before he caught me. Maybe. I glanced behind me and found him staring at me with a knowing frown.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said.

I shrugged my shoulders. “No idea what you’re talking about,” I said. It took everything I had to plaster a fake smile across my face.

“You’re doing this. You want confidence, don’t you?”

Was he in my head?

I scrunched my face. I want to kidnap Chris Hemsworth and do nasty stuff to him. I waited.

“Stop looking horny. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but stop.”

I jerked back. Did thinking about Thor make me look horny? It was a strong possibility. I shook my head, dissipating the nasty thoughts playing out in my head.

“I’ll never be able to do that.” I tilted my head toward the stage. The girl had pulled some people up there with her, and they were now all doing some dance together.

“Yes, you can. That girl sounds like shit, and she’s still got all these people behind her. Plus, she’s kind of homely. You’re cute. The guys will eat it up.”

I wasn’t sure what to do with that. He thought I was cute. Cute. Heat danced along my face. Thank God, it was dark in this place. It was bad enough he already saw my horny face.

Before I could protest with another excuse, the girl’s song ended, and the host’s voice boomed out of the speakers. “Leigh Clark. She’s our next superstar to grace the stage. Everyone give her a hand.”

I cursed his very existence. Him and Luca, who laughed behind me. I swallowed, feeling like vomit was going to explode from me. I could ruin another pair of his shoes. That would teach him for making me do things I couldn’t.

“Leigh Clark. Where are you? You’ve got sixty seconds, and we’re moving on to the next singer.”

My feet stayed planted. That’s all I had to do. Stay lurking in the shadows, and he’d pass me over for the next sucker.

“She’s right here,” Luca called out. He stepped out in front of me, and pulled at my wrist.

Within a second, a beam of white light blinded me. I squinted, putting a hand over my eyes to shield them. I blinked, clearing my line of sight to find everyone in the room now staring at me. Each table we passed, the people seemed to be sizing me up. I could practically feel their judgment, obviously thinking I would choke.

“Awesome. What is the song choice?” the host asked me.

“I– uh…” My mind drew a blank. Suddenly, I knew what I needed to do. I wasn’t getting up there alone. If Luca wanted me to do this so bad, then he would have to suffer right alongside me. “’I Got You Babe.’”

“That’s usually two people. Do you have a partner?” the host asked.

“Yup. Right here.” I pointed to Luca, who stood there, mouth hanging open. “His name is Luca.”

“Let’s give it up for Luca and Leigh.” The host gave me a slight push toward the steps.

There were only five of them, but as I looked up, it seemed as if I were climbing a steep mountain. One where, at the top, I would fight for my life. I forced myself to climb them. One at a time. My eyes stayed focused on the floor as I crossed the stage. I bumped into the microphone stand, sending it crashing against the wood floor.

Feedback screeched out. Hands shot to ears as the crowd shielded themselves from the noise. I glanced back to the steps. They weren’t that far away. My path was blocked as Luca stepped in my way and shook his head.

He bent low and scooped up the microphone. “You ready to do this?”

“No. I’m going to die. You don’t understand. This is literally going to kill me. Like I will die from a heart attack, and you’ll be burying me tomorrow. That’s how scared I am right now.” If he understood how serious this was, maybe he would have pity on me. Why did I ever agree to have him help me get over these ridiculous fears? They weren’t hurting anyone. Anyone but me, I guess.

“You won’t die from this. Not unless you run. Then I’ll make sure to hurt you.” He shoved the microphone into my palm and squeezed my hand closed over the metal.

I turned toward the crowd. My eyes swept over the throng of humanity, not taking a moment to land too long on one particular face. I didn’t want to remember anyone from this awful experience. After it was over, I could leave. I would never see any of them again. I repeated that to myself over and over again. It was the only thing that helped. My eyes blurred as the music started.

“Fuck yeah! That’s the sexiest couple I’ve ever seen on that stage!”

My stomach dropped. What the hell was Bri doing here? She sat at the front table with Finn beside her. Both of them smiled like this was the best thing they had ever experienced.

The words appeared on the monitor to my right. I opened my mouth. The words came out in a soft whisper.

“Can’t hear you! Sing, girl!” someone yelled.

Luca reached over to me and wrapped his fingers between mine.

I closed my eyes and breathed. He was here with me. I could do this. I belted the next line like I had done many times before in the shower. A hoot came during a pause, followed by cheers. My chest tightened. They were cheering!

I peeled my eyes open to see hands waving, getting into it. I couldn’t help but smile. They weren’t booing me off stage! Luca twirled me around, bringing me close to his side as he sang his part. His voice blew me away. He sounded like he did this on a regular basis. Before I knew it, we sang the last lyric, and the song ended. The entire place roared with applause.

“See? That wasn’t bad now, was it?” Luca asked as went down the steps.

A girl appeared beside us with an unnecessary fake smile across her makeup-covered face. “That was great. You’ve got a great voice. Like really great,” she told Luca.

His eyes stayed fixed on my face, not bothering to look in her direction. I shifted from one foot to the other, feeling a little uncomfortable. She really had a set of balls on her. We could have been dating. I mean we weren’t. That was only in a perfect world. But we could have been.

“Thanks, but I was only good because of her.” His eyes finally shifted to the girl’s. “No one in the place has anything on her.”

Her face twisted into a crooked frown before looking over to me. Her gaze dropped to my feet and slowly came back up before settling on my face. Her lips drew into a thin line. “You sure are lucky.”

“I know, right?” Luca answered. I had a feeling the statement wasn’t directly at him. She wanted me to know I was the lucky one. With a hand, she flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder and twirled around, running into Bri.

Bri stared down at her. “Bitch be gone! No one ain’t got time for bar skanks.” The girl ducked her head and skirted around the side, hitting the edge of a table.

“Come back! He might not want you, but I’ll take you home!” Finn called after her. He stood for a moment, staring after her before focusing on Bri. “You had to run her off, didn’t you? She was down to fuck.”

Bri rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Luca. Can’t stand girls like that. Like she saw you two dancing on the stage. We all know if you guys were like brother and sister or cousins, you wouldn’t be dancing like that. No. You danced like you were together, and then she's going to come over here, trying to throw her runt-ass coochie on him.” Her fist balled up, staring at the direction the girl went. “I really want to go whoop her ass the more I think about it.”

“I think we need to get out of here,” I said, putting a hand on her arm.

“Yeah. Let’s go,” Luca said, meeting my eyes.

We pushed through the crowd and wandered to the parking lot. We climbed into Luca’s truck. “Where to? You ladies ready to call it a night?”

Bri’s head shot to the front, her arms resting on the seats. “Hell, no. Let’s go back to my place and hang out. The night’s still early.”

“I agree. I was gonna be extremely disappointed if you guys went home. Like really disappointed. No one in this truck is old and should go to bed before ten,” Finn said, pushing Bri to the side.

She shoved him back into the corner.

“Whoa, girl. You’re dangerous.”

The two of them continued to bicker back and forth as we pulled out onto the road and drove in the direction of Bri’s place. When we arrived, we all piled out and headed toward the house.

“You did great,” Luca said.

He reached the door before me and stood in the doorframe. “After you.” I ducked under his arm and pushed through into the living room.

Bri was already in the kitchen. Glass clinked together as she yelled at Finn to move. “Anyone want a drink?” she asked, stepping out into the hallway.

“None for me,” I said.

Luca shook his head.

The corners of her mouth turned up. “Okay, but you guys are gonna need it for what I’ve got in store.” She laughed manically, leaving the two of us staring at each other.

His eyebrow arched. “What’s your friend got in mind?” he asked me.

I lifted a shoulder. “Why are you asking me? I have no idea.”

“She’s your friend. You should know what goes on in that crazy head of hers.”

Before I could answer, Bri entered with a tumbler full of something that smelled fruity. Finn followed close behind double-fisting two beers.

“Truth or dare, Luca?” Bri asked as she plopped down on the couch and tucked a leg under her.

Luca looked over to Finn. “Did you know about this?”

“She threw the idea at me in the kitchen, and I thought it was a jam-up good idea. I mean, that was after I suggested that me and her give her bed a visit and bump some uglies.” He looked over at Bri, smiling. “She didn’t like that suggestion, though. This girl is going to make me work for it.”

“Never, Finn. Keep dreaming.” She refocused on Luca. “Answer me. Truth or dare?”

“What are we, ten?” he said.

Bri threw a pillow at him. “Stop avoiding it.”

“Okay, okay. Truth.”

Her fingers tapped together. “Have you ever been in love?”

My breath caught in my throat. I leaned toward him, practically dying to hear the answer to that. I knew about his girlfriend from when he was younger. How he ever wanted to be with someone so awful still baffled me. But what if that was the kind of girl he liked? If it were, I would never have a chance.

“No.” His eyes dropped to the table. We all sat in silence, waiting on him to elaborate. When he didn’t, Bri cleared her throat, clearly agitated.

“It’s your turn,” she told him.

He looked at Finn. “Truth or dare?”

Finn’s shoulders rolled back, sticking his chest out. “Dare, bruh. You better hit me something good, too.”

“Good, huh?” Luca asked. “Run around the house…”

Finn pffted. “Is that it?”

“…naked,” Luca finished.

Finn stood, quickly undoing his belt buckle and shoving his pants along with his boxers to the floor. I turned my head, putting a hand in front of my eyes.

“Oh, yeah. Good dare, Luca. I’m enjoying this,” Bri shouted, clapping her hands.

The front door opened, and the room fell silent. I moved my hand, finding Luca still sitting across from me, but the other two gone.

“Thought that would get rid of them for at least a few minutes.” He laughed, leaning back.

“You know he’s going to get you back for this, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Probably.”

The silence was interrupted as a naked Finn came through the door followed by Bri. Before I could cover my eyes, Finn twisted his waist. “It’s a helicopter kind of night!” he yelled.

Luca tossed him his shorts. “Dude. Please. For the love of God, put those back on.”

Finn grabbed them and put them on. “Leigh.”

I jumped at my name. I wasn’t expecting him to take his revenge out on me.

Luca glanced at me and shrugged. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

Finn’s brows rose, and a joker-like grin spread slowly. Instantly, I knew I had made the wrong decision.

“I dare you to kiss Luca. And not just a peck. It’s got to be like tongue for like at least thirty seconds.”

Before I could react, Luca jumped from the couch. “I’m not playing this stupid shit anymore. You can’t make her do that.”

“Why? Maybe she doesn’t mind it,” Finn shot back.

“It’s fine. I’ll do it,” I said, interrupting their heated stare.

Finn pressed his lips into a thin line while rubbing his hands together. “Yes. See, Leigh doesn’t act like a dick. It’s just a game.”

I ignored him and got up. Once I was in front of Luca, my hands were already sweating so bad I needed to rub them across my jeans. “It’s just a kiss. That’s nothing,” I said. It was more to myself than him.

He rolled his eyes and nodded. “Let’s get it over with so we can appease the children in the room.” He leaned down, pausing for a second in front of my lips. I closed my eyes, awaiting his touch.

BAM! I snapped back, looking around. The sound of glass shattering echoed around the room.

Finn and Bri ran to the back of the house. “The damn wind is kicking it out there tonight. Blew something right through the glass door,” Finn said.

“I’ll get the broom. Guess the game is over,” Bri muttered.

Luca and I looked at each other. I wasn’t sure if I was glad we were interrupted or sad I hadn’t gotten a chance to see what it would be like to kiss Luca Bennett.