She blinks at me. “Wifey?”
“Too much?” I grin.
“It’s...” Her mouth twitches. “Ridiculous.”
“You love the pet name.”
She picks up her drink. “I don’t.”
“You do.”
Her expression softens, but she doesn’t argue.
“Now go pick your song.”
“You can win over any crowd.” She glances at the stage. “I can’t follow that.”
“You don’t have to follow it. You just have to get up there.” I hold out my hand. “Come on. I’ll go with you. We’ll do a duet.”
She stares at my hand. And I’m relieved when she takes it. We pick something easy. Something everyone knows. I start us off, keeping it light, bouncing around the stage like an idiot to make her laugh.
She comes in on her part. And she’s good. Not just okay. Good.
Her voice is clear and strong, and she hits notes I didn’t expect. The nervousness melts off her as she gets into it, and by the second verse, she’s smiling. Really smiling.
We finish to actual applause, not just polite clapping.
Back at the table, she’s breathless. Flushed. And her eyes are bright.
“See? Told you.” I grin at her. “You did great.”
“That wasn’t so bad,” she admits, taking a long drink.
“Wasn’t so bad?” I ask incredulously. “You were amazing up there.”
Her cheeks redden at the compliment.
I lean forward. “Now do one solo.”
“What? No.”
“Yes. I’ll be right here cheering you on.”
She bites her lip, looks at the stage, and then looks back at me. “Fine. One song.”
She goes up alone this time, and I watch her pick a song I don’t recognize—something slower, more her speed. She takes the mic, and for the first few seconds, her voice wavers. Then it steadies.
She gets into it. Eyes closed. Voice clear.
The bar quiets. A few people near the stage actually stop their conversations.
When she finishes, people clap. Really clap. I stand, clapping the loudest. She opens her eyes, startled by the reaction.
“Not bad.” I pull her into a hug, lifting her off the ground for half a second. “You’ve been holding out on me.”
She’s laughing when I set her down, breathless and happy, and we collapse onto the small couch near our table.
Her shoulders shake with leftover laughter. “I can’t believe I just did that.”
