The One Left Behind (The One Series) (15 page)

The rest of the gang greets me and gives me their gifts. I notice the whole time Colin is standing off to the side while everyone else talks to me. Once I’ve opened all my other gifts, Colin walks toward me with his head down looking at the floor. He has one hand in his pocket and the other holding a gift. Hesitantly, he gives me a quick hug and hands me a box, still not looking me in the eye.

“You can open your present now or wait until later,” he says quietly, finally looking up at me. The way he’s holding his posture and the downcast angle of his eyes lets me know he’s upset. I look into his eyes and see that he’s trying to hide his emotions.

I try to lighten the mood by eyeing him suspiciously and say, “Well, what is it?”

“What is the point of wrapping it if you’re just going to tell the person what they got?” he says with a half grin.

I open the box and inside is a bag of gummy bears. I rip open the bag and eat one. “I love gummy bears!” I say around a full mouth. “They’re my favorite.”

“I know,” he says with a bright smile, “but there’s more under the bag.”

I lift the bag and pull out a bracelet. It has a little bear charm that looks just like a gummy bear. “Aww, thank you!”

I take the bracelet out of the box and ask Colin to put it on.

Colby then announces that it is time to sing. My palms start sweating and I really want to fan my armpits—not the most ladylike gesture, I know, but suddenly the room feels really hot and I desperately do not want to go up on that stage.

Colby and Damon are going to go first. After about twenty minutes of playful banter on who should get to choose the song, Damon wins.

Colby pouts at Damon, “I still don’t know why I can’t choose the song, Damon.”

Damon shows no pity on his face when he responds, “Because we’re singing a duet by your request. If I don’t choose a song you will have me singing something completely absurd. I would still like to look like a man while singing a duet with my girlfriend.” I’m expecting Colby to smack Damon in the back of the head, but to my surprise she holds it back. I can’t wait to see them up there and am anxious to see what song Damon picked out. I know it’ll be a good one.

Before they can argue any more, the DJ calls Colby and Damon up for their song. The music starts playing and Colby immediately turns to Damon and hits him on the back of the head with the microphone as Queen’s
Fat Bottomed Girls
comes on.

And…there it is.

We are all laughing at the obscene gestures Damon is making with his hips and attempt to sing along. As the song finishes up, Colby announces to everyone, “I would just like you all to know that I had
no
choice in that pick! I wanted
I Got You Babe,”
she glares at Damon.

“And that is why you weren’t allowed to choose the song,” Damon replies, unaffected by the daggers she’s throwing at him with her eyes. Everyone in the bar is laughing and clapping as they walk off the stage. Damon takes a dramatic bow before jumping off the stage.

After several cocktails and a little time later, Morgan is called up to the stage. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought Morgan and Jeremy were brother and sister. The way they bicker back and forth is tiring. As Morgan makes her way to the stage, the DJ is attempting to flirt with her. She snatches the microphone, totally dismissing him. She turns and looks toward our table with a flirtatious smirk on her face.

“This one is dedicated to my awesome neighbor.” Suddenly, all heads turn to Jeremy. He has a smile on his face until the music comes on over the speakers. TLC’s
No Scrubs
is playing and Jeremy’s smile fades into a straight line. As Morgan is singing straight to Jeremy, his lips press into a thin, tight line while his eyes narrow in on her. Morgan finishes up her song and he immediately strides over to the DJ booth. He says something to the DJ while handing him what looks to be some cash and takes the microphone. The DJ nods in understanding and turns back to his equipment.

“This one goes out to my neighbor as well.” He winks at Morgan and starts whistling when the song starts playing. I don’t recognize the song, but when I look up at the screen it says
Whistle
by Flo’ Rida. Listening to the lyrics makes my eyes go wide in complete shock that he’s singing this to her. He doesn’t break eye contact with her through the whole song. And, just in case there’s any question about who he is singing to, the DJ put a bright ass spot light on her. When she tries to move, the DJ follows her with the light. We are all laughing, and by the red in Morgan’s face, I would say she is quite embarrassed. I may not remember Jeremy, but he’s funny. I’ll give him that.

Pierce leans into me during Jeremy’s performance and says, “Your friends are hysterical. Are Morgan and Jeremy a thing?”

I shrug, “I have no idea. I just met Jeremy tonight. Technically I’ve known him for a while but I don’t remember him.” Watching them interact tonight has me questioning if there is something going on between the two of them.

He smiles at me and we continue to cheer Jeremy on. He truly is a terrible singer and rapper, but it’s hilarious watching him belt it out for the whole crowd. Jeremy finishes up his song and walks up to Morgan, taking a bow in front of her. As he is standing back up, she punches him in the stomach and moves around to the other side of the table.

I hear the DJ call up Pierce next. He is wearing a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, with black slacks and black shoes. Not too casual, but sexy as hell. He has on a white gold bracelet that looks a little older. He walks over and whispers something to his sister. She has a look of disbelief on her face and makes her way to the stage shaking her head. Pierce comes over to where I am standing next to Colby.

“Now, I said if you came I would make it worth your while. So consider this part of your birthday present,” he says with a wink. I can feel my cheeks flush and I hope he isn’t about to sing a song to me.

Colby looks at me with squinted eyes and her head tilted to the side. “What was that all about? Do you know what he’s about to do?”

I shake my head at Colby. “I have no idea.”

Pierce takes the stage and grabs the microphone from his sister who was holding it. I start tapping my foot in anticipation. I wonder what Lexi has to do with all of this. I guess I’m about to find out since Pierce is about to speak into the microphone.

“Hey, everyone. Today is my dear friend Addison’s birthday. I told her if she came out tonight for some karaoke I would make it worth her while. So with that said, happy birthday, Addison.”

Pierce gives the DJ a nod and the music starts. I recognize the song right away. Pierce not only starts singing ‘NSYNC’s
Bye Bye Bye
, but also does the exact choreographed dance from the video. He unbuttons his dress shirt showing the T-shirt underneath and all the girls in the bar start running up to the stage. I can’t help myself and my body is shaking in laughter. Colby and Morgan take my arms and drag me up to the front of the stage and cheer them on as they’re breaking it down on the stage.

Damon comes up from behind and yells to Colby, “I hope you’re not expecting me to do this for you.” Me and Colby laugh even harder and tears start to stream down my face. By the time Pierce finishes, I’m clutching my stomach trying to ease the pain caused by uncontrollable laughter. The crowd in the bar applauds Pierce and his sister and they both jump off the stage laughing. Colby gives Pierce a high five and Damon gives him a pat on the back shaking his head laughing.

Pierce walks up to me. “Well, did you enjoy it?”

“I can see how that scored you dates with the ladies. You’ve definitely got some moves,” I say jokingly.

Pierce grins shyly and he has the slightest hint of pink on his cheeks. Oh my gosh, did I just make him blush? “Thank you. God I haven’t done that in ages. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous I was going to make an ass out of myself.”

Lexi comes up from behind. “As if! You learned from the best! I can’t believe you remember that!”

I look at Lexi and admire how brave she is for dancing up there in front of everyone. “Lexi you were great! I could never do that! That was so awesome and the best birthday present ever. Thanks.”

I shake my head in amazement. I can’t believe he did that for me. Every time we hang out he surprises me. I keep finding new qualities in him that make me like him more and more and it feels like it’s becoming more difficult to keep the lines drawn at being strictly friends.

We all order another round of drinks while the waitress is by our table. The DJ calls Colin up next. I immediately start singing along to the song playing. I have always loved this song. It is Counting Crows’
Round Here
. As Colin is singing with his eyes closed, I wonder what is running through his head.

THIS WAS A very bad idea. The one constant that keeps running through my head is how much I fucking hate Pierce. The way he touches her and whispers to her…I want to rip his fucking head off. Does he not understand that it’s my girl he’s flirting with? The amount of rage I have to swallow as I watch my friends and former fiancé all flock to this guy like he’s the coolest thing since sliced bread is hard to do. Jesus, where’s their loyalty?

The DJ calls my name to take the stage. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect because I was starting to weird myself out with all the sick and twisted ways I was envisioning hurting Pierce. I really need to get a grip.

I knew instantly the song I was going to sing. It held a special meaning to Addison and me. It was our song. The first song we ever danced to. I remember that night like it was yesterday. I take a deep breath and run my hand through my hair as the music starts for
Round Here
by Counting Crows. I lock eyes with Addison briefly before I close them and get lost in the music, lost in the memory.

Addison and I had been dating for a couple weeks. I knew the first date I was going to marry her, but every minute I spent with her I fell more and more in love. I felt it in my soul that we were destined to be together. The thought should have scared me, but it actually calmed me and brought a small smile to my face whenever I thought of spending the rest of my life with this gorgeous girl.

Her hair was longer then, to about the middle of her back. She had left it down in small waves. She had on jeans that were faded and torn a little. She paired it with a simple, body hugging white tank top and a pink and teal patterned scarf tied loosely around her neck. She was casual and thought nothing of the look that she threw together in minutes, but to me, she was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. Every time I looked at her was like a kick to the balls because she literally took my breath away. She was always stunning, and I loved that she was by my side.

It was late in the afternoon, maybe early evening. I couldn’t tell you the exact time since time ceased to exist when I was around her. I didn’t care what time of day it was as long as I was near her—listening to her talk, laugh, to see her smile, smell her hair. It had only been a week and I was already addicted to her. We were walking hand and hand around some mom and pop shops and boutiques. We weren’t looking for anything special, just doing something to spend time together and get to know each other. As we’re walking, we turn a corner and there’s a guy sitting with a guitar in his lap. He’s singing Round Here by Counting Crows. I instantly stop us and look at her.

“Dance with me,” I blurt out. She looks around as if to say, ‘Here?’ I just grin at her and grab both of her hands so she can see that my answer is, ‘Yes, right here, right now.’ She is still hesitating, so I tuck her hair behind her ear and say, “Please, I just want to hold you a little bit.” She gives me the sweetest smile before biting her lip and nodding.

I can tell this was way out of her element. She didn’t do things to draw attention to herself. As gorgeous as she is, she’s content sitting in the corner watching all the action from a distance. But not this time.

I place my right hand at the small of her back and pull her into me so our bodies are almost touching. I can hear her breath hitch as I do it, and it kind of makes my heart race. I grab her right hand with my left and start to lead her along the sidewalk. There we are. A couple of crazy people dancing in the middle of a busy street, but we don’t care. At that moment everything fades away. It’s just her, me, and the music. It is perfect.

I stare into her eyes as she looks back at me. For a moment, I thought I saw the same emotion I have for her reflecting in her eyes. I try not to get too excited at the thought that she might already love me too. I want to tell her in that moment so badly. It would have been the perfect opportunity, but I hold back. I don’t want to risk running her off and ruining the perfect night.

“You’re a good dancer,” she says in mock surprise.

I just shrug. “Eh, you know, Mom was adamant that every man should know how to lead a lady on the dance floor.”