Merc smiles. “I know, Pres. I’m not asking you to be anything but yourself. It’s that wildness in you that will make this song perfect. So just close your eyes and feel it. Let the music take you, and I guarantee it’s all going to be fine.”
I can still see her nervousness, but she tries to shake it off as she sits a bit straighter and takes a calming breath. “Okay.” She nods. “I’m ready.”
Mercury starts the track from the beginning, so Pres can get a feel for it without jumping straight into the chorus. I’ve heard it a few times now, so I know it’s a rock ballad with an emotional chorus about a love that endures.
The male voice is powerful, with a deep, raspy tone that sounds almost perfect. But when it reaches the chorus and I hear my wife echo the haunting lyrics, I know Merc has a masterpiece on her hands.
“Fucking hell,” I mutter, watching the way she transforms before my eyes. She sings with her eyes closed, completely swept up by the music as she sways back and forth.
It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
She finishes the chorus, and her eyes open and land straight on me. For a moment, I feel like the world melts away.
“You really are in love with her, aren’t you?” Merc says.
Without tearing my gaze away from my wife, I nod. “I really fucking am.”
And I have no idea what to do about it.
Because the days are slipping away from me. Soon, it will be November, and my time here will be over.
Chapter Twenty-Six
PRESLEY
Hendrix
Are you guys avoiding me?
Myles
What? No.
Merc
Of course not.
Cash
Yes.
Myles
Cash, wtf.
Cash
He asked.
Me
Just ignore him, Hen. We are not avoiding you.
We are one hundred percent avoiding him.
And it’s all my fault.
Out of my four siblings, Hendrix is the last to know about Hollis.
