03

3

Love of Your Life

THE SMELL of liquor instantly wafted into Kendall's nose as she and Eric entered the bar.

Soft jazz floated around the room from the band that was currently playing onstage. The collective murmurs from people having their own conversations sounded like a faint buzz under the music. Occasionally, someone would laugh a little louder than they should.

Eric pulled out a chair at a square-shaped table for Kendall to sit on. Once she was seated, he walked around the table to the seat across from her. Then he took out his phone and pretended to check it.

"My buddy just texted me that he won't be able to make it tonight," Eric said lamely.

Kendall wasn't surprised. It was something she would expect from a guy like Eric.

She forced a smile. "That's okay."

Eric signaled a waitress and ordered two shots of tequila. "You drink, right?"

Kendall nodded in response, distracted by the performer who was about to sing. When they opened their mouth and lyrics began to flow out effortlessly, Kendall became nervous. The people she sung for in Georgia seemed to like her singing, but this was an entirely different state. What if they hated her? What if they booed at her?

No matter how hard she tried, Kendall couldn't remove the horrifying image of the crowd hurling rotten tomatoes at her from her mind.

Two shots of liquid courage and some awkward small talk later, Kendall had finally worked up the nerve to go onstage.

"I think I'm gonna go up there."

Eric laughed. His grin faltered, however, when he saw Kendall's deadpanned expression. "Wait. You're serious?"

"Damn right I am," she declared, getting up from her seat and walking on stage.

She informed the employee that was working the karaoke machine of what song she wanted to sing. He handed her the microphone as Vance Joy's 'Riptide' began to play from the bar's speakers. Kendall closes her eyes, trying to picture a positive end result.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

"I was scared of dentists and the dark. I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations."

As she continued to sing, the entire audience became captivated by the way her voice rose from her throat and drifted around the room. The lyrics flowed from her naturally pink lips smoothly like water in a slow-moving river. Her voice sounded like a sickly-sweet syrup; if you had too much, you wouldn't feel good, but you couldn't help but crave more.

"I got a lump in my throat 'cause you're gonna sing the words wrong."

She gave back the microphone and the whole bar erupted into applause. The cheers from the crowd where like a happy pill to Kendall—like an extra dose of dompamine. And God knew she needed all the extra doses she could get.

"I had no idea you could sing," Eric complimented as Kendall took a seat.

Kendall signaled a waitress with a tray of tequila shots in her hand and took two, downing them both immediately.

Eric looked at Kendall wearily. "Ken, you might wanna take it easy."

Kendall grimaced at the empty shot glass in her hand before putting it down to look back at Eric. "I'm at a bar on a Friday night. I might as well get drunk."

"All right, Morgan." Eric smiled and signaled the waitress back for four more shots. The waitress who was clearly becoming annoyed placed the alcohol on the table.

Later into the night, a woman who looked about Kendall's age approached her. She pulled up a chair and sat beside Eric. "Girl, what you did up there," she gestured to the stage, "was amazing."

Kendall, who was obviously drunk, hiccupped before responding. "Thank you."

"Oh, shit. Where are my manners?" The woman held out her arm from across the table, her rainbow earrings dangling from her earlobes in the process. "I'm Phoenix."

Kendall shook her hand. "Kendall."

"My girlfriend takes forever to pee," Phoenix drunkenly laughed. Kendall smiled back, admiring Phoenix's beauty. Her dark skin was incredibly melanin rich, which made the red dress she was wearing look so flattering on her. The dark red on her lips pulled the whole look together.

"You're like, crazy gorgeous," Kendall complimented.

Phoenix smiled, showing off the top row of her straight, white teeth. "I'm not. But thank you, though."

Phoenix's girlfriend, Maria eventually joined them. Somewhere in their conversation, they end up exchanging numbers.

"We're gonna call it a night," Maria said.

"Aw, but we're having so much fun," Phoenix pouted.

"You're drunk, and you need rest." Phoenix stood up and stumbled a little. Maria instantly came to her side for support. "Goodnight, you guys."

Eric and Kendall said goodnight back in unison.

"You ready to go home?" Eric asked.

Kendall narrowed her eyes to slits. "But you've been drinking."

Eric crossed his arms. "I'm not a lightweight, Kendall."

"Maybe we should wait a little."

"I'll just drive you home right now. Come on, nothing bad is gonna happen." Eric grabbed Kendall's wrist and she pulled away forcefully.

"No."

"Don't make a scene, K—"

"She said no," a gruff voice interrupted.

Kendall turned to see the owner of the voice. "Ryan?"

Ryan held out his hand, palm up and Kendall took it. He lead her out of the bar, past the people sitting nearby who were whispering and discreetly taking pictures of the situation.

Kendall stopped to look at Ryan once they were out of the bar. "What're you doing here?" she slurred.

"I was meeting up with a friend of mine, but I can reschedule," he lied easily. Ryan had actually been watching Kendall from across the bar after she and Eric sat down. He was dressed in all black with a black hat to hide his face from anyone who might've recognized him.

"Okay. Well, thanks for saving me back there. Even though I was handling the situation just fine."

"The guy was practically going to force you into his car."

"You wanna know what I think?"

Ryan nodded.

"I think . . . I think I'm gonna throw up." Kendall shoved her clutch into Ryan's hands and bent over to vomit on the sidewalk. As if it were a reflex, Ryan automatically held back Kendall's hair from her face.

Kendall stood back up and chuckled. "That did not feel good at all." She stumbled over her heels and Ryan caught her before she could face plant onto the quiet street.

"Tell me your address and I'll drive you home." He already knew where Kendall lived. It was included in the file that the PI gave him. He considered driving her home without asking for her address but what if she remembered him not asking her the next day?

Kendall groaned. "I'm so drunk," she said, dragging out the "O".

Ryan sighed. There was no point in asking her again when she was obviously too drunk to form a complete sentence. "I'm gonna take you to my place so you can crash there. Is that okay?"

"You're a stranger. My mom always told me not to talk to strangers." Kendall stumbled and laughed. "Stranger danger!"

Kendall suddenly fell limp in Ryan's arms. "Night night," she whispered.

Her eyes closed as Ryan carried her bridal style to his car, brushing stray hairs away from her face. "Goodnight, Kendall."

You don't know it yet, he thought. But I'm going to be the love of your life.