I pull James through the crowded room, making my way to the karaoke corner. There's a DJ with a laptop off to the side and a screen in front of the small stage.
"You're singing with me, you know that, right?" I turn back to see James's reaction. His eyes widen, and he puts his beer on the table.
"I can't sing!" James admits nervously.
"Neither can I. Let's go!" I walk over to the man running the show and whisper my favorite song to him. I point to James and myself, and the man nods.
"What did you tell him?" James looks down at me, waiting for my answer.
"Just that neither of us can sing, but we are gonna do it together anyway." I smile up at him, starting to feel the warmth from the whiskey.
"I REALLY can't sing, Julia. I'm not drunk enough for this! What song did you pick?"
"My favorite song - you'll see." I have no idea what James listens to and don't know if he will even know this song, but the lyrics will be on the screen.
We wait our turn as a girl finishes her song, earning a polite applause. James looks like he's gonna shit his pants, and it's hysterical.
"The things I'd do for you." James mumbles, shaking his head. I take his hand and drag him up on stage. The DJ hands us each a microphone, and we wait for the song to start.
"Fair warning everyone - we can't sing. My sincere apologies!" I say to the crowd. Everyone laughs, and the song starts.
"Play It Again" By Luke Bryan begins, and James looks a little relieved.
"Oh good. At least I know this one." He whispers to me, but the microphone picks it up, and the crowd chuckles.
I don't let go of his hand the entire time and watch him look at the screen. This being my absolute favorite song, I don't need to see the screen to read the lyrics. I know the words by heart, so I keep my eyes on James instead.
"She was sittin' all alone over on the tailgate
Tan legs swingin' by a Georgia plate
I was lookin' for her boyfriend
Thinkin', "No way she ain't got one"
Soon as I sat down I was fallin' in love
Tryin' to pour a little sugar in her Dixie cup
Talkin' over the speakers in the back of that truck
She jumped up and cut me off"
We sing in unison, terribly, and the crowd goes wild. Efron starts laughing half way through as I walk around him while we sing, putting on a little show. His eyes dart back and forth from me to the screen to keep up.
"She was like, "Oh, my God, this is my song
I've been listenin' to the radio all night long
Sittin' 'round, waitin' for it to come on and here it is"
She was like, "Come here boy, I wanna dance"
'Fore I said a word she was takin' my hand
Spinnin' me around 'til it faded out
And she gave me a kiss
James spins me around without letting go of my hand, loosening up a little more. We drew in a little crowd, and people started singing the chorus with us.
And she said, "Play it again, play it again, play it again"
And I said, "Play it again, play it again, play it again".....
The song ends and everyone is now on their feet cheering. I jump up and throw my arms around James in front of everyone. "Thank you!" I say close to his ear. He hugs me back, lifting me up so I can't touch the ground, earning us another round of applause.
We hand over our microphones to the next in line and head through the crowd. I realize I'm still holding James's hand as we sit back at the bar.
"Seee! Tell me that wasn't fun!" I exclaim in the middle of my adrenaline rush. Without asking, Charlene gives us another order of drinks.
YOU ARE READING
The Winner
RomanceNate, Julia, and James. Who loves who? Who is worth the risk? Who is worth the heartache? Multimillionaire Nate Hollan would have never met her if it weren't for the contest, and Julia Moretti had no idea what she was getting herself into when she...
