I search YouTube, and sure enough, her performance is already up. I tap it but press pause, looking over at Fox. “After the party. The one at my place.”
“Right.” He nods. “And it’s going well?”
“Yeah.” My knee won’t stop bouncing. “Really well.”
He cracks open his sparkling water. “Does that mean she’s sticking around?”
“I don’t know.” I rub at the back of my neck. “Don’t think so.”
Fox pauses mid-sip. “Have you guys talked about it?”
“Not yet.”
“What? Why?”
I turn my phone over in my hands. “What’s she going to do in Chicago?”
“… Be with you.” He sounds utterly perplexed.
“What about her career?” I lean my head back against the seat.
“Don’t actors and singers and stuff travel a lot? Why should it matter where her home base is? Or you could do long distance, I guess.”
He says it like it’s all so simple. And I don’t know… maybe it is. “Yeah. We’ll figure it out.”
Fox takes another long pull of his drink.
I can feel him waiting for more, but I don’t give it to him. “Are we done talking? Can I watch this now?” I hold up my phone.
He waves me on, but leans on the armrest to watch, too.
I press play.
And there she is.
She’s stunning. Her hair falls in loose waves, and her dress is different from the one she sent me a picture of earlier, but she looks just as good in this one. My focus isn’t on her outfit, though. It’s on the way she seems a little nervous, at first, yet still owns the stage. How she settles into her stride around the chorus, and the smile she shoots at the camera when she does. It’s my favorite one, and I tell myself she did it just for me.
Cash is there, too, but Summer steals the show. I can’t look away.
“Damn,” Fox says. “They’re good.”
I swallow. “Yeah. She is.”
She looks happy. Really happy. And so in her element.
Fox gives me a look I can’t quite read. “You good, man?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I reply, though I’m not sure. There’s too much emotion churning inside me—from the win, missing being there for Summer, and wanting to talk to her so badly—that I can’t make sense of why watching this is making it worse.
He shrugs, sinking back into his own seat and giving me some room.
I pop in my headphones, and her voice fills my ears. I watch the video again. And again.
On maybe the fifth time through, I’m finally able to pay attention to the lyrics.
Cash joins her for the chorus. Their voices blend. The chemistry is undeniable.
The song is about taking chances. About letting someone in, even when you know it might not last. Falling anyway.
