“Me too,” Jordan said, a grin forming on his face. He bowed his head down to hers, and for a second, Cassie thought he would kiss her right then and there. She could have gotten lost in the moment, almost forgetting where they were, but despite the musical distraction, she couldn’t let the residents, or even Jordan, think they were getting back together.
The song ended, serving Cassie with the perfect opportunity to evade a kiss with Jordan as she and everyone else in the crowd erupted in a round of applause.
When the singer disappeared from the stage after thanking the audience for their time, Jordan watched Amanda return to the tiny stage, bringing her mouth to the microphone as she tapped it with one finger and cleared her voice to speak into it.
“As usual, anyone is more than welcome to sing a tune if you are able to belt out a half-decent note. It is Open Mic Night, and singing is what it’s all about. Eat, drink, and above all else, enjoy the rest of your night.”
Jordan lightly nudged Cassie as they made their way back to their table and sat down to finish their meals. “There you go. Maybe you should sing a song.”
At his suggestion, Cassie almost spat out the mouthful of drink she was currently swallowing. She scrunched up her nose, an expression Jordan thought looked adorable.
She set her drink down and pointed her finger in his direction. “Are you implying that I can or can’t sing?”
Jordan remained tight-lipped, his mouth forming a straight line. “I’m not quite sure I know what I just said. Maybe I had an out of body experience and I couldn’t control my actions. Or maybe I know exactly what I said, and I know for a fact that you have an angelic voice and really can sing.”
“So which one is it?” Her eyes flickered at him, anxiously waiting for his response, all the while knowing he wasn’t going to admit the truth unless she did something about it, and then she would have his answer. He was challenging her, and Cassie knew it.
“I guess we’ll never really know for sure…” Jordan winked, stretching his arms out beside him.
Cassie took another sip of her drink, toying with the long black straw in her glass then set it back down on the table, ready to make her next move.
“We’ll see about that,” she said haughtily, and then she got up from the table and walked toward the other side of the diner, stepping onto the stage and sitting down at the slim keyboard perched on the stage. Cassie couldn’t help but let her eyes wander over in Jordan’s direction. She could see a huge grin on his face. He was looking mighty pleased with himself right now. Despite her spur-of-the-moment decision to get up on stage, Cassie considered leaving it too. She had never sung in front of a crowd before and was nervous as hell, feeling butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Sure, she was having fun, but at what cost? Did she really want to risk being booed off stage? And as small of a town as Yellow Valley was, she knew if she sang and made a fool of herself, then she would get everyone talking about how much of an embarrassment she was. Everyone would know she couldn’t sing for shit.
Cassie pulled the microphone stand closer to the keyboard, drumming the pads of her fingers against the smooth white keys as her gaze shifted down to the floor. If she was going to sing, she couldn’t look at the people in front of her. But most importantly, she couldn’t look at Jordan.
Song titles ran through her head as she tried to think of a song she actually knew the lyrics to.
Jordan stared at the magnificent beauty before him, noticing how the lights above her head shone brightly against her soft blonde hair as if she wore a halo atop her head.
“You can do this,” he told her, like she could mentally hear his words. “I have faith in you.”
You can do this, Cassie told herself. It’s just one song, not an entire set, and you know these people. They’re not going to boo you off the stage. They’re your friends.
She did her best to convince herself she had nothing to worry about, that she wasn’t making a career out of it or anything. It was all for a bit of fun and to prove to Jordan she could sing.
She couldn’t remember the last time she had even played the piano. There was a time very long ago when she used the piano as her form of relaxation. Just the serenity of her fingers gracing the keys as she played different notes to make a tune was calming and soothing to her. But then life happened, and Cassie’s whole primacies in life changed. Suddenly, she wasn’t the most important person in her world.
She decided she would play a little song called Summer Girl. It was a positive song, and the lyrics were rather catchy.
One, two, three… Cassie counted under her breath.