Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Hey.” He gave me a smile and then turned to his computer again. Chet was a nice guy, but he was all business. I guess that was why his bar was so popular. “What can I help you with?” he asked as he typed.
“I heard there’s an opening in the Underground. I wanted to see if I could apply for it. You know I can dance, but I sing too.”
“Is that really your pace?” he asked, still not paying attention to me.
His question rubbed me the wrong way. Everyone assumed I was just this flighty little thing who knew how to move his body, was sarcastic, and liked to fuck, and while all those things were true, that wasn’t all there was to Jesse Gibson. “Why wouldn’t it be? I know how to be who I need to be, depending on the situation.”
Chet stopped typing and looked at me. “Dane works there.”
“So?” Obviously, that meant he knew Dane and I weren’t the friendliest, but he also didn’t care when he made us dance every Friday night, because again, it was good for business.
“People do like the two of you together…” He appeared lost in money-and-numbers land, which was both annoying and something I respected. There should always be a happy medium between passion and surviving. “Hmm…could be interesting. We can give it a trial run and see how it goes. It would be easier to find another dancer one night a week in the Playground than someone who can sing for the Underground. Let me hear you.”
My heart dropped to my stomach, swam around there, and then was like, Nope, this isn’t far enough, and made its way to my feet. “What…like right now? Right here?” I mean, I danced in front of people every night, but I didn’t typically sing in front of people at random. Like, Hey, lemme just burst into song. I wasn’t shy, but give a guy some notice.
“Yes, right now.”
Okay…so a cappella. I could do this. Clearing my throat, I opened my mouth and let loose the first thing I could think of, which was Sam Smith. It was a good choice because their songs were awesome.
I only got through the chorus before Chet nodded. “You’re good.”
I grinned. “I know.”
“Cocky little shit,” he said with a smile.
“Eh, I’ve heard that before too.” Dane immediately popped into my head, and it was slightly annoying that I thought of him at random times. Whatever. That wasn’t important right then, though.
“Let’s do this. We’ll give it a few weeks, see how it goes.”
“That easily?”
“Did you want it to be harder? Because I can come up with something,” Chet countered. He was so damn…well, a bit odd. I never knew what to expect from him, but I kind of liked it.
“Nope. I’m quite fond of easy. Let’s go with simple for now. I…wow, thanks.” Now that I had this, I realized I’d really wanted it. I liked stretching myself, doing different things. Showing myself I could be more than the small-town farm boy who was considered unusual because he didn’t fit in with everyone around him.
“You can get with the new piano player, Victor, touch base with him. Thanks for coming in, Jesse.”
It was a dismissal, and I was totally okay with that. I thanked Chet and left his office with a little bounce in my step. And by bounce I meant a happy-go-lucky skip, but, you know, whatever.
I did flirt with Brent on the way out, and why shouldn’t I? I grew up thinking there were so many things I couldn’t do, so many things I would never do, and with each one I marked off my list, or added randomly to that list, I proved everyone wrong, including past me.
Deciding I wasn’t ready to jump on the bus yet, I started walking. It was when I passed Rose City Park that I saw him…Dane…and a little girl he was pushing on a swing.
Holy shit. Dane had a kid? This was…interesting. Interesting indeed.
Suddenly, Sexy Captain Cranky Pants was even more intriguing than he’d been before.
8
Dane
“Higher, Unca Dame,” Hailey insisted as she pumped her little legs on the swing. “Push me higher.”
“Okay, little daredevil.” I smirked as I gave her a firm push, but not as forcefully as she would’ve liked. “Your mom would kill me if she saw how high you were already going.”
Bree was working a four-hour shift that afternoon, and I’d agreed to watch Hailey. She had gotten over her infection with the help of antibiotics, but the doctor warned that ear tubes were probably imminent. Regardless, Hailey always bounced back after a course of antibiotics as if she hadn’t been sick at all. And whereas we normally walked to the small park by our house, today, as a special treat, I decided to travel across town to the bigger playground Hailey loved.