The Ending I Want(26)

I stare up into Liam’s beautiful green eyes. “No recording this, and no laughing, promise?”

I hold my little finger up to him for a pinkie swear.

He laughs and wraps his little finger around mine. “I promise. Now, go get ’em, tiger.” He smacks me on the ass.

Shaking my head at him, I turn, and on wobbly legs, I walk toward the stage where the band is waiting for me.

The lead singer, Lee, holds out a hand, helping me up onto the stage.

“Hey, I’m Lee. You’re Taylor, right?”

“Yeah. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too. So, you want to sing with us tonight, huh? Just one song?”

“Definitely one song.” I laugh.

“Okay, so do you know the words to ‘I Touch Myself’ by Divinyls?”

“Um…” I roll through my mental song list. Isn’t that song about sex? “I’m not sure if I know the lyrics.”

“Don’t worry. I have the sheet music. Liam chose it for you. He was very insistent that you sing it.”

“Oh, he was, was he?” I meet Liam’s eyes across the bar and watch as a massive grin spreads across his face.

“Here are the words.” Lee hands me a sheet of paper with the lyrics on it.

I let my eyes scan the words. Holy shit.

This song is about a woman making herself come while she’s thinking of the man she wants.

Bastard.

I glare at Liam across the room.

The smile on his handsome face gets bigger. I have the sudden urge to wipe it off.

I can’t sing this.

“And here’s your mic.” Lee hands me a microphone.

“Thank you.”

“You ready to do this?”

Nope. “I guess…”

Liam is so going to pay for this later. He can forget hair-pulling and f*cking later. At this rate, dude is going to be sleeping alone with only his hand for company.

I blow out a breath and put the microphone to my lips.

“I’ll count us in, and then we’ll start playing. You count to sixteen in your head and then start singing. Okay?”

“Sixteen. Okay.”

My heart starts pounding, and nerves are swimming in my belly. My palms start to sweat around the microphone.

You can do this, Taylor. No fear.

The band starts to play. I shut my eyes and begin counting. When I reach sixteen, I flick my eyes open, stare down at the first words, and then I start to sing.

Oh my God, I’m singing. In a bar filled with people.

I’m singing in a bar full of people, and…I’m actually not that bad.

Hell yeah. I’ve got this.

By the time we reach the chorus, I’m totally into it, shaking my hips and ass on stage and belting out the words. Liam, Eddie, and Cam are all cheering me on. People in the audience are singing along. Some are even getting up from their seats and dancing.

My confidence is soaring.

Maybe Liam was actually onto something with this song.

I feel awesome!

He’s totally getting a blow job later.

And then we’re on the last chorus, and the song is over way too quickly for my liking.

People are clapping and cheering. I see Liam standing up on his stool, whistling.

I give a little bow.

I have never felt so amazing in all my life as I do now—well, apart from when I’m in Liam’s bed.

“You were great.” Lee smiles at me.

I hand him back the microphone and sheet music. “Thanks.” I beam. “And thank you for letting me sing with you guys.”

“Anytime. You can sing with us anytime.”

My smile gets even bigger.

Heart pumping with adrenaline, I turn to leave the stage, and Liam is there. He puts his hands on my waist, lifting me down. My body slides against his, and he pauses me when our faces are close. His lips meet mine in a soft kiss.

“That was f*cking amazing, Boston. I’m so proud of you.”

“I’m proud of me, too.” I smile.

“One more thing crossed off your list.”

“It is.”

Liam puts me on my feet, and holding my hand, he leads us back to our seats at the bar.

“That was really great, Taylor.” Cam smiles at me.

“She was better than great, f*ckwit. She was hot as f*ck up there,” Eddie says to him.

Liam reaches over and slaps Eddie on the back of the head.

“Oi!” Eddie complains, rubbing his head where Liam just smacked him.

“Don’t call her hot.”

“I was giving her a compliment.”

“You can give her compliments without calling her hot, dickface.” Liam gives him a stern look.

“You did really great,” Cam tells me again. “Let me get you a drink on the house.”

“I still have my beer left, but thanks.”

“I’ll take Taylor’s free beer,” Eddie says.

“You can pay for yours, you cheap bastard,” Cam tells him. He grabs a bottle and pops the cap, putting it on the bar in front of Eddie.

“What about me?” Liam says. “Don’t I get offered a drink around here?” He waves his empty beer bottle around.

“I’ll have a beer waiting for you when you’re done.”