Chapter 9 Rhianna
Rhianna
The Tipsy Mermaid buzzes tonight, all neon lights and laughter. I’m nestled in our usual booth, sandwiched between Alex and Rachel, when I spot him: Eli Lancaster looking like he’s walked straight out of a J. Crew catalog.
I wiggle my way out of the booth and wave him over. “Well, well, well, Lancaster, look at you all dressed up.”
Eli’s smile falters but then his eyes skim over me. “You as well.”
I scoff at my shimmering sea-foam colored top and jeans. His gaze lingers on my bare shoulders a moment before jumping back up to my eyes. I smile and grab his arm to weave him through the crowded room. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”
As the rest of our crew files in, I rattle off names, but I can’t help but notice how Violet’s eyes linger on Eli a beat too long.
Something twists in my stomach. And I use the rest of my brainpower to convince myself it’s just the questionable package of cookies I munched on as I got dressed earlier.
Still, I focus with my magic—just enough to check.
It’s with a quiet flood of relief that I can tell their energies don’t match at all.
Violet is fire and precision. Eli’s energy is more reserved than I’d realized—quiet in a way I wouldn’t have noticed if not for the contrast.
Definitely not a match.
Not like… well.
I shove that thought down before it can finish forming.
Eli slides into the booth next to me and shakes Tom and Grant’s hands. His smile is smooth, his countenance relaxed, but I understand what he meant about his date now. He’s so quiet, scarcely giving single word answers to questions the group peppers him with.
“Ethan didn’t want to come out tonight?” I ask Alex, trying to divert attention from Eli and also distract myself from the way his knee rests against mine.
Alex shakes her head. “You know baker’s hours. He says he can’t manage on three hours of sleep anymore.”
“But Zoe is here!” I whine playfully, gesturing to our resident firecracker who has braided her hair into a French crown and donned shimmering emerald lipstick.
Zoe grins and wraps an arm around Mia’s shoulders. “That’s because fun is always the priority over sleep. Tomorrow-Zoe will hate me, but tonight-Zoe plans to sing her heart out. Besides, Mia can sleep in for the both of us.”
Mia rolls her eyes affectionately. “She acts like the bookstore doesn’t also open early.”
“But you’re so beautiful when you’re sleepy,” Zoe coos then plants a kiss on Mia’s cheek. “I look like a hag. You don’t need beauty sleep the way I do.”
The DJ’s voice booms over the speakers. “And now we have Zoe singing ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’!”
Zoe squeals and grabs Mia’s hand, pulling her out of the booth. “Eek, that’s me! Come on, babe!”
As they dash off and the electric, glittery sound of the song blares over the speakers, I turn to Eli who’s watching the chaos with a soft smile. “So, Mr. Year of Spontaneity, are you going to grace us with a song?”
He brushes his dark bangs back from his forehead and chuckles. “I don’t think so. I mean, how am I supposed to top that?”
He gestures to the stage where Zoe has donned a feather boa and is leaning toward her mic, one arm raising the roof. The crowd is already in her clutches, clapping and waving in rhythm.
I bump into his shoulder. The rich scent of his cologne makes my head spin a little. “Oh, come on, Lancaster. Live a little. Aren’t you all about trying new things?”
His eyes flash. He’s so close to me I can see the flecks of gold in his irises, count each of his unfairly long eyelashes.
For a moment, the cacophony of the bar fades away, and all I can hear is the quickening of my heartbeat.
His gaze drops to my lips for a fraction of a second before snapping back up to meet mine.
The air between us crackles with an electricity that has nothing to do with magic and everything to do with the way he’s looking at me right now.
“You’re right,” he says, his voice low and husky. “I am currently all about trying new things.”
For a wild moment, I think he might kiss me.
Part of me hopes he will. I’m considering drowning the part of me—the Rhianna who is screaming a million excuses why that’s a bad idea—in enough Mermaid’s Kiss Cocktails she’ll forget every one of them.
She gets the best of me, though, reminding me I’m supposed to be finding Eli’s perfect match, not auditioning for the role myself.
Especially not in front of the whole town.
That Rhianna also remembers what it felt like to be left behind by someone who once claimed to love her—someone who couldn’t stay when things got hard.
And it’s not her era for pain anymore. It’s her era for plane tickets and possibility.
For traveling the world unencumbered. For being young and alive and selfish in the best kind of way.
Not for risking everything on a pair of soft eyes and a quiet voice that makes her wonder what it might feel like to risk her heart again.
I clear my throat and shift away from Eli the smallest amount, ignoring the way my skin tingles where we touched. I wiggle my eyebrows, hoping we can move past whatever almost happened between us. “So, a song?”
Eli looks at me for a long moment as the last beats of the music blare through the speakers. There’s something unreadable in his eyes. Then he grins in an adorable half-smile. “All right, Wilder. You’re on. But only if you sing one too.”
“Done.” After all, I don’t care what people think about my singing and I’ve always been comfortable on stage. Eli shifts like he’s going to leave the booth and request his song but I grab his arm gently to stall him. “Wait, your outfit needs a slight adjustment. Do you mind if I—?”
He hesitates, and we’re back in the previous moment again.
And the ideas of cocktails and poor decisions sound perfect.
Then he nods. My fingers tremble slightly as I reach out to undo the top few buttons of his shirt.
The brush of my knuckles against his skin causes him to shiver and my breath catches. Suddenly it’s very warm in here.
“There,” I say, my voice breathier than I’d like. “Now you look the part. Go knock ‘em dead with your rendition of ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’, champ.”
He laughs and stands, walking over to the DJ. I regret sending him away the moment the air cools around me. I slump back into the booth, my heart racing.
Alex glides over next to me. “So, want to tell me what that was all about?”
Tom has taken the stage along with Violet, Mia, and Zoe as swoony boy band music plays. Tom even gives a little hip wiggle as he belts out the chorus of ‘I Want it That Way’. Rachel and Grant stand in front of the stage fist-pumping in rhythm. For a book club, we’re pretty cool, I have to say.
Alex isn’t paying attention to the performance, though. She’s smirking at me, one eyebrow raised. I shrug. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she says, stretching the words out. “Maybe the fact that what your fingers didn’t do in unbuttoning Eli’s shirt, your eyes were finishing?”
My cheeks catch fire. “They weren’t! I was just… helping him get into the karaoke spirit.”
“Mhmm.” Alex takes a sip of her drink in the mermaid-tail shaped goblet. “Just friendly encouragement?”
“Exactly. I’m his matchmaker, remember? I’m just trying to help him come out of his shell.”
Alex’s expression softens. “Rhianna, I think you might be—”
But whatever she thinks I might be is cut off by the DJ’s booming voice. “All right, folks! Next up we have Eli with ‘Go Your Own Way’ by Fleetwood Mac!”
My jaw drops. “Fleetwood Mac? But why would he—”
“Looks like he knows your favorite band already.” Alex pats my hand.
I can’t pay attention to her, though, as Eli takes the stage. His hands shake as he accepts the mic, but he juts his jaw up as the first guitar chords come on, and then…
Holy. Crap.
Eli Lancaster can sing. Like, really sing. His voice is rich and soulful, filling every corner of the room. Gone is the buttoned-up professor. For a moment, the entire bar is transfixed, then as Eli hits a long note perfectly, the place explodes.
Zoe still stands at the front with the rest of the group and they’re singing the backup lyrics loudly enough that they carry even without a mic.
But I’m completely fixed on Eli who loosens up as the song carries on. His eyes, which had been closed in concentration, suddenly open and lock onto mine. The intensity in his gaze nearly knocks me out of my seat.
As he belts out the chorus, the meaning of the lyrics hits me like a tidal wave. This is a song about a man who’s in love with a woman but knows she wants to go her own way. He’s saying he would give her his world if he could. Is Eli… is he trying to tell me something?
My heart races, and it’s not just with the energy in this room. It’s the realization that I feel something for him. Something real. Not crush-level, not fling-level, but gut-deep, maybe-don’t-leave-level feeling. And that’s the most terrifying feeling of all.
Eli’s voice soars on the high notes, raw emotions pouring out of him. Our club members have become his own personal hype squad, hooting and dancing when they aren’t singing. Despite the atmosphere, the words seem to hang in the air between us, heavy with meaning.
I feel like I’m seeing him for the first time. He’d explained how he has difficulty carrying conversations. Not with me, though. Now watching him pour his soul into a song at a cheesy karaoke bar has me staring slack-jawed.
As the final chords fade away, the bar erupts in cheers and applause. Eli blinks, as if coming out of a trance. A slow, shy smile spreads across his face as he takes in the crowd’s reaction. But his eyes find mine again, and in that moment, it feels like we’re the only two people in the room.
Alex nudges me and gives me a knowing look that I pointedly ignore. She hops up, offering to bring me a drink. I’m not even sure if I say yes or not. As Eli makes his way back to our table, he accepts high-fives and pats on the back from other patrons. I’m still frozen in place, my mind reeling.
“So,” Eli says as he drops beside me, his knee bracketing mine. He’s slightly out of breath and flushed, his cologne stronger than ever. “A worthy enough attempt for my first performance at The Tipsy Mermaid?”
I open my mouth, but for once in my life, I’m at a loss for words. How do I tell him he just turned my world upside down with a single song? That I just saw a side of him I didn’t know existed and I want to see it again?
“I… wow,” I finally manage with the absolute elegance you’d expect from someone who works with words for a career. Come on, Rhianna, get it together. “Eli, that was… you’re an amazing singer.”
He ducks his head which only slightly obscures the smile blooming on his face. “Thanks. I guess I felt inspired.”
Our eyes meet again, and the air between us crackles with unspoken words and possibilities.
I know I should look away, should remember that I’m supposed to be his matchmaker.
But right now, with Eli looking at me like that, a flush still coloring his cheeks, I can’t bring myself to care about anything else.
I’m in trouble. Big, Fleetwood Mac-Rumors-tour sized trouble. Because somewhere between the cinnamon rolls and the karaoke and the quiet, steady way he looks at me like he sees me…
I stopped pretending this was a casual crush.
I think I’m falling.
And the scariest part is that a small, reckless part of me wants to. Even knowing how it ended last time. Even knowing what it cost.