Chapter 35


    Amber


    ‘Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling. Do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand?’


    I close my eyes as soon as I start singing the lyrics I memorized over the past two days. The melody itself is easy enough to play, so my main concern is not screwing up the words. I’ve been incredibly nervous about this moment all day. When I walked on stage, it felt like my stomach had been taken over by squirming bugs. My palms were sweaty, and my hands were shaking so much that I almost feared I wouldn’t be able to play. But as soon as I felt the familiar touch of the keys beneath my fingertips, the shaking stopped, and my hands steadied. Closing my eyes helps me block out the crowd. If I treat them as just white noise, I can pretend I’m alone, playing and singing as I usually do, without anyone listening.


    ‘A whole life, so lonely. And then come and ease the pain,’ I sing. ‘I don’t want to lose this feeling. Oh!’


    This whole thing between me and Jake has been such a stupid series of miscommunications. If either of us had just been honest about our true feelings, none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t have tried to stick to Jake’s now non-existent boundaries, and I would have proudly introduced him to my parents as my boyfriend, regardless of how they might feel about it. The truth is, Jake has actually been a pretty amazing boyfriend to me, before everything blew up last weekend. I just hadn’t realized that he was, indeed, my boyfriend.


    All I want to do is tell him how much he means to me, how much I love him. But since Jake refused to talk to me all week, I knew I couldn’t do it alone. So I reached out to the one person I thought could help me. Thankfully, Lily answered when I called her. I told Jake’s sister everything that happened, and, thank the Lord, she believed me when I said that I never meant to hurt Jake. After she agreed to help, I called the piano bar to ask if they’d be willing to help me with my plan. Once I convinced the stage manager that I could actually play, by performing on my new keyboard during a video call, she agreed to let me sing on stage during karaoke night while accompanying myself on the piano.


    Tonight, Marjorie drove me to Piano & Pour as soon as Lily let me know Jake was coming to the ranch to see me. I noticed Jake called me a few times and left me a message, but I’ve been too chicken to listen to it. What if he’s still mad? What if he no longer wants to be with me and called to say I should leave him and his family alone? I can’t bear to hear it until I’ve done everything I can to show Jake how much I love him. So when I got the text from Lily that she and Jake were here, I signaled to the blue-haired stage manager, and she got me on stage as soon as the previous song ended.


    Now, all that’s left is for me to sing my heart out and hope. Hope that singing Jake’s song will get my message across. Hope that it will make him understand how much I love him. Hope that it will be enough to fix things between us.


    The song is almost over, and I’m dreading the moment it finishes. Then, I’ll have played all my cards, and all I can do is wait for Jake’s response. What will I do if Jake still decides he doesn’t want to be with me anymore because I hurt him too much? I desperately try not to think about that as I reach the final chorus.


    ‘Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Is this burning an eternal flame?’


    I let the final high note slowly fade away, before my fingers play the outro and come to a stop. But when I lift my hands from the keys, I instantly know something is wrong. My hearing is suddenly gone—I can’t hear a thing! It’s only when I hesitantly turn my face towards the room that I realize the entire crowd has gone silent. My heart starts racing in my chest. Did they all hate it? Did I just make a complete fool of myself? A blush begins creeping up my cheeks.


    I stand up as quickly as possible, ready to flee the stage, but the moment I rise, the cheering starts. The spotlight aimed at the stage keeps me from seeing much of the crowd, but the people at the front tables stand up and start applauding, giving me a standing ovation. My blush deepens as I freeze and awkwardly glance around. The stage manager approaches, applauding as well. The spotlight bounces off her vibrant blue hair.


    ‘Girl, you come play and sing here anytime you want,’ she declares, shaking her head in admiration. ‘That was incredible!’


    ‘Thank you,’ I say, completely flushed. Despite my nerves about going on stage, I have to admit it was a total rush to perform.


    I try to look into the crowd to spot Jake, but the lights are too blinding. I walk toward the steps on the side of the stage. The audience is still applauding while the stage manager tries to capture their attention for the next song. The nervous flutter in my stomach returns when I still don’t hear Jake’s voice amongst the cheering people. What if he hated it? What if he left?The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    But as soon as I step down from the stage, I finally see him. Jake is standing only a few feet away. I stare at him anxiously. I’ve been trying to talk to him all week, but now that he’s right here, I’m suddenly at a loss for words. Before I can think of something to say, Jake closes the distance between us. He wraps his strong arms around me and crashes his lips onto mine, pulling me to the side. He pushes me up against the wall behind the small music tech station next to the stage, where most of the crowd can’t see us.


    ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I’m so fucking sorry, baby,’ Jake pleads between desperate kisses. ‘I’ve been such a fucking idiot. I should have fucking told you how I feel about you. I honestly thought you knew, but I realized tonight I never fucking said it!’


    ‘And I should have told you that I wanted more than something casual with you,’ I admit, eagerly welcoming his lips. Tears start streaming down my cheeks as the relief floods through my veins.


    ‘No, don’t try to pin this on yourself,’ Jake says, firmly shaking his head. ‘I was the one who said I didn’t want a girlfriend. I always knew you were way too good for something casual, Amber. I just didn’t think I could ever be a good boyfriend to you. I should’ve told you the second I got my fucking head on straight.’


    ‘I still should have been honest.’


    ‘No, baby, this was on me,’ Jake says, his expression filled with torment. ‘I''m so sorry! I should have just told you that I fucking love you weeks ago,’ he adds before kissing me again.


    ‘I fucking love you too,’ I laugh, kissing him back.


    ‘Well, I d— Wait…’ Jake suddenly pulls away from the kiss and stares at me, his eyebrows lifted in mock shock. ‘Mary Elizabeth Amber Scott, did you just curse?’


    ‘Shut up, Jake!’ I laugh even harder. I place my hands on either side of his face and pull him towards me, so I can kiss him again.


    ‘But you cursed!’ Jake exclaims with the biggest grin I have ever seen.


    ‘The situation asked for it. It was important that you heard me, and I thought using your favorite word might help you listen!’ I chuckle.


    ‘I''ll never not listen to you again,’ Jake promises me earnestly. ‘Never!’


    ‘You’re becoming a wise man, Jakey,’ I suddenly hear Lily say.


    We both turn our heads towards her. She’s standing behind Jake, arms crossed, a satisfied smirk on her face. I give her a grateful smile, and she winks back at me.


    ‘So, I take it you were in on this?’ Jake asks his sister, his tone slightly indignant.


    ‘I had to get my boots back somehow,’ Lily shrugs.


    ‘You could have fucking told me, instead of dragging me all over town!’ Jake says accusingly.


    ‘Where would have been the fun in that? You needed to stew in your own stupidity for a little while,’ Lily declares mercilessly.


    ‘I’m never trusting you again, Lily Thompson, you hear me?’


    ‘Yes, you will,’ Lily replies confidently. ‘You know I did this for your own good.’


    ‘Don’t blame Lily. She just went along with my plan,’ I tell Jake, reaching up to run my fingers through his hair. I think my smile may be permanently plastered to my face.


    ‘Admit it, this was way better than just telling you,’ Lily grins at Jake. ‘And as a bonus, I finally got to hear Amber sing, after you talked her up so much. Totally justified, by the way. You were incredible,’ she beams at me.


    ‘Yes, you were,’ Jake fervently agrees, instantly turning towards me and crashing his lips against mine. ‘You were a fucking rockstar on stage. I knew you’d be amazing!’


    Jake presses me up against the wall again and slides his hands down my waist to my ass. I tightly wrap my arms around Jake’s neck, hugging him close against me. My body is already eagerly responding to his touches. I’ve missed him so much!


    ‘Alright, get a room, you two,’ Lily says dryly from behind us. ‘Preferably your own.’ As soon as Jake turns his head towards her, she tosses him a set of keys.


    Jake moves quickly, catching them in mid-air. He stares at them in surprise.


    ‘You drove me here, Lil. How are you going to get home without my truck?’


    ‘Herc is already waiting for me outside,’ Lily says, gesturing with her thumb over her shoulder, a smirk playing on her lips.


    ‘Wait, he knew about this too?’ Jake frowns, then glances at me. I just shrug—I wasn’t aware of that either.


    ‘Of course, we all did,’ Lily declares matter-of-factly. ‘I informed the others after Amber called me with her plan. I had to let Hugo and Nate know what a bunch of assholes they were. They’re very sorry, by the way, for their terrible advice to Jake,’ she adds, turning to me. ‘They want to make it up to you, too. Hugo’s waiting outside for me right now, and Nate said he’s making us all a big brunch tomorrow. We’ll expect you both home by eleven. That should give you enough time to make up, right?’ she asks, wiggling her eyebrows at us.


    ‘I don’t know,’ Jake mutters, glancing at me again. ‘I’m kind of aiming for forever here. I don’t know how much convincing it’ll take…’


    ‘Just make it work, you sappy dweeb!’ Lily laughs, patting Jake’s shoulder once. ‘We’ll see you guys tomorrow at brunch!’


    With a quick wave of her hand, she says goodbye and spins on her heels. Laughing, we watch her effortlessly weave through the busy tables towards the exit. Then Jake turns back to me, his expression serious.


    ‘Alright, no more misunderstandings about this, Amber Scott,’ he says, brushing my hair back from my face. Jake’s blue eyes lock onto mine with an intense gaze. ‘I love you. I want to be with you, and only you. I want to be your boyfriend. I’m yours, and you’re mine. No more of that casual bullshit, yeah?’


    ‘You’re mine, and I’m yours,’ I confirm, smiling up at him.


    ‘Good. Now that we’ve finally cleared all that up…’ A mischievous smirk curls on Jake’s lips. ‘...I’m taking you home with me. You’re the only woman I ever want in my bed again. Now, tonight, and forever.’


    ‘Agreed,’ I reply, standing on my toes to kiss him again. I teasingly bite his lower lip, letting him know just how much I want him.


    Jake chuckles, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and guiding me towards the exit. He presses a kiss to my hair.


    ‘Good girl,’ he mutters in my ear.