“Oh, come on.” The corners of Nora’s mouth turned down. “I can’t be the only one drinking.”
“Drink as much as you want. I’ll take care of you,guapa.” Raul put his arm around her and caressed her back.
“No, three Virgin Highballs, it is. I’m not going to get drunk on my own,” Nora announced, hammering her order into thescreen. “I’ll also get the appetizer plate, which comes with gyoza, edamame, and harumaki. Or do you guys have anything against that?”
“I’m not that hungry,” I replied. I had eaten enough food for a whole week at the family reunion. “But I won’t say no to some Japanese cuisine.”
“What are Ha-ru-ma-key?” Raul asked.
“Spring Rolls. The Japanese version of it,” Nora explained.
Raul shrugged, his head bobbing left and right as if the new information were floating around in his mind. “Okay, let’s try it.”
Nora clicked the green order button at the bottom of the screen and switched to the Songs tab. She scrolled through all the options, quickly settling for the rock and pop tab. Her determination and quietness as she searched made me narrow my eyes.
“Don’t even think about picking a song for me,” I said.
“Oh, come on,” Nora laughed. “How did you know?”
“After two years of living with you, I should know you at least a little bit.”
“Fine,” she groaned. “But don’t try to weasel your way out of this. Today’s the day.” She shot me a final glare before turning to Raul. “You go first, then.”
“I can.” Raul leaned forward, now focusing on the selection as well. “Let me surprise you with a serenade,guapa.”
Nora beamed from ear to ear as she sat back to watch him make his way to the microphone while an acoustic guitar played a flowery intro. For the next three minutes, Raul performed a passionate rendition of a Spanish folk song I had never heard before. He didn’t hit all the right notes, but when he whispered the Spanish lyrics into the microphone and locked eyes with Nora, I totally understood why she had fallen for him.
It was like watching a corny scene from a romance movie, where the hot male lead wears baggy clothes to hide his physiqueso he can charm the female lead—and the audience—with his charisma. The only thing missing was the rich rival, whom every other character deemed more desirable in every way, although he wasn’t. But Nora certainly wasn’t the type to date two guys at the same time. Besides, after all the nights I spent chatting with her in our shared kitchen over a bottle of wine, I never got the impression that money was something she’d go for if everything else was missing.
As the last notes of the song faded, Nora applauded as if she had watched her boyfriend win a Grammy. I clapped, too, and Raul sat back down next to her, pressing a kiss on her cheek.
The door to our private booth flew open, and a tall, slender guy with round glasses walked in. He was carrying a tray with three glasses of water and three cocktail glasses filled with a shimmering golden drink.
“Good evening,” he said, placing the beverages in front of us. His head tilted to the right, his eyes shifting between the drinks and me. “I’m Oliver, and I’ll be your server tonight. How are you enjoying everything so far?” He glanced briefly at Nora and Raul, but mostly looked at me as he spoke. “Do you need any assistance with the karaoke machine?”
“I think we’ve figured things out,” I answered.
“Don’t hesitate to call me if you needanything. You know how to do that?” he asked, his eyes sparkling.
A sudden coldness hit me at the core. “Yes, the blue button in the upper right corner,” I replied.
Oliver nodded and smiled at me again before walking back out, swinging his hips as if trying to catch my attention.
“I’ll eat a broomstick,” Nora announced the second the door closed. “Did you see how he looked at you? I bet if you asked him, he’d give you his number.”
“And what exactly would I do with that in the few hours we have left here?”
I might be an asshole, but I wasn’t going to ditch my friends on vacation even if I were horny—which I wasn’t, at least not for him. I had already spent last night with a cute guy whose touch still lingered on my skin. I didn’t want to replace the memory of Alex that quickly. In fact, if I were really going to ditch them, I’d rather spend another night with him.
“Also, it’s your turn now.” I pointed toward the console so Nora would leave me alone.
Her piercing gaze lingered on me before she leaned forward and focused on the song list. “Good thing, I already know what I want to sing,” she said. After a few taps on the screen, she stood up, pointing at me with an expression I certainly wasn’t going to disagree with. “You’re next, my friend.”
The moment she stepped behind the microphone, she started swaying her upper body from side to side and shaking her head to the beat of the rock song. When the first verse began, she didn’t need to look at the lyrics on the screen. Fixing her gaze on Raul, she sang every line of the love song as if it were our final exam.
I slumped into the comfortable leather cushions.
As much as their singing songs for each other made me happy, it also twisted my stomach. I wanted to perform for someone like that, too. To be fair, I did sing for Alex last night, and it was the best night I’ve had in months. But after years of having onlyone night, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have a relationship like theirs. Alex could have been that person. We clicked in so many ways. If we only had the opportunity, we would probably sing songs to each other every day.
