Track 10: Love Song
Gabe
I know my time with Kate is going to end in a few days, and I can’t help but want to spend it all with her, even if she is playing this hot and cold dance with me.
I need to be alone with her.
I need to break her hard exterior, even if it breaks everything in me to try.
Even though I came here for a mini-break and to help Trace with wedding stuff, I want Kate to myself, even just for a few hours.
I knock on her door through the bathroom and wait anxiously as she either accepts my plan or rejects it all together. I hear her stumble out of bed and the padding of her feet as she walks to the bathroom door on her side.
“Yes?” She looks at me as if she’s already bored with this conversation, her arms crossed against her chest. “Can I help you?”
My lips turn up into a huge grin and before I can say anything, she speaks again.
“Scratch that.” She shakes her head. “You’ll take that literally.”
I smile. “You’re figuring me all out, aren’t you, Kate?”
“Unfortunately. Sharing a bathroom surely hasn’t helped.”
“Well, lucky for you, I have a proposition for you.”
She eyes me curiously, her body finally relaxing. “What is it?”
“Tell Natalee you can’t go with her today and spend the day with me.” My voice is steady, hoping she hears the sincerity in my tone.
“And why would I want to do that?”
“Because you still have numbers to cross off on your list. And you secretly like spending time with me,” I say with certainty, leaning against the doorframe.
She narrows her brows, her arms falling down to her sides. “Oh, look. There goes your ego.”
I cock my head and furrow my brows at her. “Are you telling me you’d rather go shopping with Natalee for honeymoon supplies? I’m guessing body wax for her, speedo for him, sex toys for…” I ramble on before she cuts me off in a frantic.
“Okay, okay! Fine. But no more speedos talk. I’ll never get that image out of my head now.”
“Good.” I smile in victory. “Meet you back up here in ten minutes.”
She shuts the door in my face, a smug smile stretched on my face. I walk downstairs first, with Kate just a few steps behind me. I’m not sure what kind of excuse she’s going to come up with, but I’m eager to find out.
“Good morning,” Natalee says the moment she sees the both of us. “Coffee?”
“Morning. Yes, that’d be great,” I say automatically, grabbing a cup and walking toward the coffee maker.
“None for me,” Kate says, sounding weak. “I don’t think I can go with you today.”
I try to focus on pouring the coffee and staying out of their conversation, but the curious side of me wants to watch her reaction and if Nat will buy it or not.
“Oh, no!” Natalee walks toward her. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“Just dealing with cramps and bloating, you know…” she lingers, not wanting to say anymore with Trace and I in the room.
“Girl stuff,” I blurt out. “The monthly excuse for hating men.” They both turn toward me, their firm expressions letting me know that was not the right thing to say. “What? I was trying to be sympathetic.” I shrug.
Natalee sighs and rolls her eyes. “Men don’t know a damn thing about our bodies or being sympathetic.”
“I know plenty, thank you very much,” I say confidently. “You go do your shopping and I’ll make sure Kate has plenty of chocolate, ice cream, and chick flicks to watch.”
Kate pinches her lips and cocks her head at me with a hard stare. She’s warning me.
“And…a heating pad. I heard those things help,” I add, not as confidently.
Kate rolls her eyes when Natalee isn’t watching, but she doesn’t say anything.
“All right, fine, but I swear, Gabe…” Natalee points her finger at me like she always does. “You make one rude comment, I’ll make sure all the single girls at the wedding think you’re gay.”
Kate lets out a snort, bowing her head as she tries to stifle a laugh. I throw my arms up in defeat. “Why the hell does everyone think I’m gay?”
Kate chimes in. “I told you. You give off a vibe.”
Natalee gets interrupted by Trace and walks out before I can rebuttal. I step behind Kate and bend down to whisper in her ear, “I’d be more than happy to show you just how not gay I am.”
“Keep it in your pants, mister,” she whispers back. “I’m not that curious.”
I chuckle, pressing my body even closer against hers. “You’re not very convincing when your body shivers against mine and is basically begging for it.” I feel her breath hitch. “Now meet me upstairs in ten minutes.”
I walk out, leaving Kate alone in the kitchen. A few moments later, Natalee says her goodbyes as she heads out, dragging Trace with her. We’re finally alone in the house, and I plan on making every minute count.
I head up to my room and wait for Kate. She barges through the door, dressed in skinny jeans and a thin, long-sleeve shirt with her hair braided to one side, lying loosely over her shoulder.
“I still expect chocolate, ice cream, and chick flicks.”
I lay on the bed, staring up at her, wondering how I’m going to keep my hands off her all day.
I swallow as she takes a step forward, putting her knee-length boots in view.
It’s going to be a challenge… I tell myself.
“Chocolate and ice cream are no-brainers, but no chick flicks.”
She eyes me, her arms crossed over her chest as if she’s trying to think of a comeback.
She sighs and releases her arms. “Fine. Are you going to tell me what we’re doing today?”
She looks tense and right now I can’t help myself. So I do the only thing that’ll help us both.
I stand up from the bed and before she can say anything else, I grab her waist and push her body against mine, my mouth covering over hers as I kiss her without any hesitation at all. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in closer, one hand wrapped around her neck and the other secure around her waist, molding our bodies together.
She moans as our tongues intertwine in an effortless dance, heated and filled with wanton desire. I can feel how I affect her body the same way hers affects mine, but I won’t give her the satisfaction of knowing I want it too.
I break the kiss and pull my body away from hers, just enough to see the disappointed expression flash across her face before she quickly wipes it off and looks up at me.
“There, now you can finally relax,” I say as I brush my thumb over her cheek, her jaw quickly tightening.
“Why do you keep doing that? Kissing me and saying stuff like that?” She looks hurt and annoyed.
The corner of my lips curl up in satisfaction, knowing that she enjoys it every time I kiss her. “Admit it, you agreed to staying with me today hoping I’d kiss you again.”
“You’re really arrogant, you know that?” She pushes against my chest, putting space between us.
“And you’re really good at dodging questions.”
She rolls her eyes. “This was a bad idea. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
She turns around, but I grab her elbow before she can get too far away from me. “You don’t mean that,” I say smugly. “You know you want to.”
“I want to not be another notch on your bedpost,” she says with sass in her tone.
“I don’t have a bedpost, but I have a little black book app on my phone if you’d like to see that,” I say, like it’s nothing. I know I’m only fueling the fire, but she makes it too damn easy.
She shakes her head and parts her lips, but smacks them back together before she turns and starts walking out again.
“Wait,” I say, laughing. “Don’t go. I’m only teasing. C’mon,” I plead, but she ignores me. “Kate!” I yell, chasing after her down the hall. “I want to help you cross off another number on your list.”
She spins around and studies me, looking to see if I’m just messing with her again, but I’m completely sincere.
“What else is on your list?”
“If I tell you, you can’t chicken out.”
I put my hands up in surrender. “I’d never.”
Her body relaxes, finally. “Fine. I have two we could do.”
My eyes light up, pleased that she’s finally on board with me. “Great, let’s do it!”
“You don’t even know what they are yet.”
“If they’re anything like your other ones, we’ll be fly fishing on top of the Empire State Building and making a house of cards out of singing birds.”
She laughs finally, for the first time today. “Close, but no. I’ve always wanted to sing karaoke and try sushi.”
I stare at her, wondering how this girl could have lived such a sheltered life.
“They’re lame, I know,” she says softly, lowering her eyes.
I tilt her chin back up so I can see her face. “They’re not lame at all. Sounds fun. Let’s do it.”
Her lips spread into a pleased smile. “Okay.”
Kate
“So how is it you’ve never sung karaoke before? Isn’t it like a college girl’s drunk right of passage or something?” Gabe asks as we start our drive. “And how have you lived on the east coast and never tried sushi?”
“I didn’t do the whole college thing,” I admit. “Plus, who wants to eat sushi alone? I mean, who’d hold my hair when I threw it all up?” I laugh, finding it much more comfortable to talk to him now that all the tension seems to be gone.
“Well, that’s why you get drunk,” he says, turning to face me with a cheeky grin. “Drunk encouragement.”
We both laugh, falling into easy conversation as he drives us to a local bar. “Do you think you’re going to get me drunk at ten a.m.?”
“If I said yes, will you still come with me?” He winks.
“Ha ha,” I mock. “They aren’t going to have karaoke this early.”
He shifts his lips back and forth for a moment. “You’re right. Nothing a little improvising can’t fix.”
He pulls the car out of the parking lot and starts driving again until we stop at a toy store.
“What are we—” He gets out of the car before I can finish asking.
“Come on, let’s go!” He swings my door open and reaches for my hand.
“What are we doing?” I ask again as he pulls us to the doors.
“I told you. Improvising.”
After we leave the toy store, he takes us to a local deli downtown and orders us both sushi platters. They pack them up for us, and Gabe drives us back out to Nat and Trace’s house.
“So what else is on your list?”
“Why do you want to know so bad?”
“Just curious. Thinking I should make a list, but maybe more simple things, similar to yours.” He glances at me and smiles. My stomach flutters, and I hate that he has that affect on me.
“Oh yeah? And what would those things be?”
He thinks for a moment, tilting his head in my direction. “I’d enjoy life more. Perhaps slow down and just learn to enjoy the moment, rather than wishing for it to go by faster. I’d go for walks, take more pictures, quit my stupid job.”
I look at him, surprised by his confession. “If you hate your job, why don’t you quit?”
He shrugs, staring hard out the window. “Family business.”
“Pff…” I mimic his careless shrug. “Life is too short to hate your job, Gabe. Family business or not.”
“Yeah?” He finally turns and looks at me with soft features. “What’s your day job?”
“I quit a few months ago. I was in fashion.”
“That sounds like something you would’ve enjoyed.”
“It was. I was busting my ass.”
“So what happened?”
I exhale deeply, looking back out the window to avoid his eye contact. “Life.”
We arrive back to the house and instead of going inside, he leads me down to the dock with our bags and a blanket from his trunk.
“Are you ready?” he asks, unpacking the bags.
“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be ‘ready’ for.”
“Karaoke and sushi,” he says matter-of-factly.
“Here?”
“Yes. Why not?” he asks, laying the blanket out on the grass until it’s nearly smoothed out.
“I-I don’t know. What if someone sees or hears me?”
He sets up the toy karaoke set and hands me the toy microphone. “I’ll be the only one listening.” He nods his head at me, giving me permission to turn it on.
I smile, shaking my head. “I can’t believe the only one they had in stock was a Frozen Sing-a-long karaoke set.”
“It even lights up,” he adds, a cocky grin playing on his lips.
“You’re loving this way too much.” I scowl.
He shrugs. “Just a little.”
So in front of him, the tree we kissed in, and the water we skinny-dipped in, I sang Let it Go. It was completely off-pitch, I forgot some of the words even, and I felt completely ridiculous, but even with all of that, it felt completely liberating.
Once the song ended, he stood up and clapped his hands, and to further my humiliation, whistled loud and obnoxiously.
“Not bad for a virgin karaoke singer.”
“So glad I have your approval,” I mock. “I think you should sing one now.”
“Oh, no. Singing karaoke sober isn’t on my list. Drunk karaoke? Maybe.”
“Stop being a wuss,” I tease, throwing the microphone at him.
He stands up with the microphone and music box in his hand, brushes off his jeans, and positions himself in front of me.
“You ready for this? I don’t want you to feel inferior or anything once you’ve heard me,” he says with an over-confident attitude.
“I think I’ll manage,” I say dryly.
He clears his throat and as soon as he starts to sing Love is an Open Door, I burst out in laughter. My hand covers my mouth as I try to control myself, but it’s nearly impossible when he starts switching his voice from Anna to Hans as he sings their duet, alternating a high-pitched voice and a low, deep voice.
When he’s done, he drops the mic, takes a bow, and smiles.
“Wow…how in the world are you single?”
“It’s a mystery to me, too.”
I laugh, loving how he’s managed to help me forget all about the pain, stress, and fear I’ve kept to myself all this time.
“Are you ready?”
He picks up a piece of sushi—crunchy, roll-something—and brings it to my mouth.
“I feel like I’m really going to regret this,” I mutter.
“Do you want to try the sauce?” he quickly pulls it away and asks.
“I don’t know. Do I?”
He shrugs. “Maybe a little.”
He brings it back up to my mouth, and I reluctantly open it, allowing him to feed it to me.
I’m expecting to hate it, maybe even needing to spit it out, but I don’t. It’s not ribeye steak good, but it’s not horrible either.
“Well?”
“It’s edible,” I say with my mouth still half full.
“Considering I imagined you throwing up by now, I’d say that’s pretty good,” he teases with a smirk.
We lay on the blanket together, eating our sushi, and talking. My heart beats faster as he inches over and covers up my hand with his. Soon, we’re shoulder to shoulder, and I feel myself falling deeper and deeper.
But I can’t.
Bucket list #1—Don’t fall in love again.