“Yeah, but—”
“No! I’m not done. I know if he comes with you to my wedding, you will be miserable. He won’t want to dance with you. He won’t give you a thoughtful compliment. He’ll just go back and forth between the bar and Rick’s friends. And Rick’s friends don’t even like him.”
“Is that worse than going alone though?”
Bridget got up on her knees on the thick mat and grabbed Hailey by the shoulders. It seemed like she was staring into her soul.
“Yes. It is worse.” Hailey didn’t take her eyes off Bridget. She didn’t have much of a choice because Bridget was being a little intense and she was a bit scared to move. “You know, there’s going to be single guys at the wedding, or you could always ask Ave—”
“Okay, okay. I’ll keep thinking about it. I have that karaoke night tomorrow night for Abby’s birthday though, so definitely not doing anything about it then.”
Bridget just rolled her eyes as Hailey got up to makea climb. Avoidance was a wonderful skill she was honing. If she kept working on it, she may never have to talk to anyone ever again!
Hailey was always going back and forth between feeling lonely and never wanting to interact with human life ever. It was a tough line to walk, but someone had to do it.
Fuck, when did she get to talk to Marley again?
9
“THE PARTY DON'T start til I walk in…”
The whole bar joined in on the chorus Abby was belting out on the karaoke stage. The group was crowded into a private room somehow big enough for thirty people and a bar in the middle of Philly. Hailey sat at a hi-top table with Gage, singing along with the rest of the bar while eating a plate of sushi and nursing a Dirty Shirley.
She turned to Gage, who was already three beers deep with a judgmental look on his face. “You having fun?”
He shifted in his seat to face her before changing his resting dick face to a grin. “Sure, babe. Just preparing for my turn on the stage. Prepare to get your panties wet.”
“Wow, that’s … quite the promise. What song did you pick?” Hailey used to enjoy Gage’s crude humor, but now it was starting to grate on her. Maybe because their sex life wasn’t doing much for her anymore. But, at least he seemed to be enjoying it.
“It’s a surprise, but it will be hella sexy so you better watch out.” Gage winked at her and she smiled back at him, trying to push away the impending sense of doom.
“Consider myself warned. The first song I chose is a banger so you should get your dancing feet ready,” Hailey said with a wide smile. She was excited for her pick because it would be so much fun to perform it. It wouldn’t be sexy, but the birthday girl would get a kick out of it, and that’s whatwasimportant.
Abby finished her Ke$ha number and everyone gave her a raucous applause. She gave a bow before heading off the stage and Avery took her place. He gave a sweep of the bar until his eyes landed on Hailey and Gage. He gave her a mischievous grin like he had something up his sleeve.
When the opening guitar notes of Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” blasted out of the speakers, Hailey started cracking up. Avery started singing along and Hailey flashed back to their high school talent show and Avery completely owning the stage. Now, he was just missing his wolf costume, but the grin on his face could only be described as wolfish.
“What a lame song choice. This was the best hecould do?” Gage sneered as he watched Avery tear up the stage. Hailey refused to acknowledge her pulse speeding up.
“It’s a classic! We’ll just see how much better your choice is,” Hailey managed to say before turning her attention to the last rainbow roll on her plate. She wasn’t interested in whatever look Gage was giving her at the moment and she gave herself a little mental pat on the back for ignoring his jealousy.
Avery continued to rock the stage like he owned it and Hailey sang along with him. She went to take a sip of her drink before she realized it was empty.
She pointed at Gage’s almost-empty beer bottle. “Want another? I’ll grab us refills from the bar.”
“Yeah, thanks. Need it to get through the rest of this night.”
He really was miserable. Gage was the kind of guy that never really made an effort with Hailey’s friends and would hardly ever come out with them. In the past, she would be so excited that he’d finally be out with her and her friends, but now it just felt like he was in the way. If it looked like a red flag, and talked like a red flag…
Hailey ignored his comment and walked up to the bar as Avery was finishing up his song. She cheered loudly for him along with the rest of their friends and he made his way over to where she was now standing at the bar. He took a quick glance toward Gage before closingthe distance between them, reaching Hailey’s outstretched hand for a high-five.
“I can’t believe you brought back that performance! It was awesome as ever. I kind of miss the dog costume though. You really got robbed at that talent show.”
Avery’s cheeks turned pink before he sidled up next to Hailey, waiting for the bartender to make her way to both of them.
“Since you were so scarred by it I thought I’d help you face your fears. Anything else I can do to help you through this trying time?” Hailey cracked up at Avery’s silliness and tried not to think about how he remembered their conversation from at least a week ago. He should teach other men classes on listening skills.
“I think this liquid courage will help, once the bartender notices us, that is.”
