Jeremiah #2
The guitar and drumming starts up, blasting on the speaker and the crowd goes wild. I recognize this song. ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’ by The Darkness blasts loudly as Chase shakes his butt to the beat.
As soon as the lyrics start, Chase turns around, shocking all of us. He immediately reveals that he has unbuttoned his black button up, exposing his ridged, toned body. I may be a bit more muscular than him but…whoa. Looks like he hasn’t lost an ounce of his physique.
I quickly take a sip of my drink, needing to wet my dry mouth.
Chase tilts his head hard enough to flick his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose, and grips the microphone, swaying and singing to the music.
He’s putting on a whole performance, rocking his head from side to side, swinging his hair around.
Everyone is just eating it up. I have to admit, it’s hard not to.
Not only is his voice incredible, but he jumps off the stage, dancing and working the aisles, making people sing into the microphone when it gets to the high notes. Mia and Rachel lean in and laugh and sing loudly when he gets to them.
I feel myself laughing, despite how badly I don’t want to. But, how could I not? He’s commanded the entire room. It’s like everyone was waiting on him and I can see why.
Todd bumps into my shoulder, swaying to the beat, forcing me to clap along.
It’s clear he’s never lost his effect on people. Life of the party as always.
As soon as the guitar solo hits, Chase runs back to the stage and slides on his knees, performing one of the best air guitar solos I’ve ever seen.
Everyone is out of their seats, cheering and singing along.
I get up as the beat drops. I swear, I can feel the floor shake as everyone in this bar continues to go crazy.
As soon as the song comes to an end, you can feel everyone immediately feel saddened that it’s over. I’d hate to go up after that.
Chase jumps down from the stage, shaking his hair off his face, sliding his sunglasses back through his hair. He’s panting as he makes his way over to our table, earning pats on the back from everyone he passes.
“You never cease to amaze me.” Mia laughs, jumping up on her tiptoes to swing her arms around his neck.
He takes a moment to catch his breath. His gaze slowly lifts and connects with mine and lingers. My breath catches as I take in how he looks. So breathless, exasperated and panting.
Who knew karaoke could be so…
“You like what you see, Blackwood?” he asks, flashing a cocky smirk.
I give him a deadpan look. “Calm down. It’s karaoke, not the World Cup.”
This earns me a laugh from him. My stomach dips at the sound of it.
He quickly reaches down and picks up an unclaimed shot on the table; pounding it back, he runs back over to the stage. He says something to the karaoke man who nods his head and hands him the mic.
“Encore!?” Someone yells out in the crowd.
Everyone starts cheering but Chase waves them off.
“Testing, testing. Is this on?” A muffled tapping echoes through the building, and soon, everyone quiets down to hear what Chase has to say.
“Mmmm, Heather. Where’s Heather? Our lady of the night.” Chase squints, scanning the crowd.
“Oh God.” Mia cringes, palming her forehead. “You think he knows what that means?”
I laugh, shaking my head.
“What do you want?” Heather laughs as she’s pulled out of the crowd. Everyone starts cheering loudly at the sight of her. She’s clearly had a few drinks herself as she sways and lifts her glass up to Chase.
“Heather, my precious Heather.” Chase smiles softly. He pauses for a moment, tilting his head. My smile begins to fade as soon as I realize from the tone of his voice, he’s actually about to say something sincere. “Tonight is to celebrate you moving on but…honestly…”
He taps the microphone softly on his chin as he thinks of the words.
“Honestly, I’m going to miss you. I’m going to miss talking to you.
Seeing your face every day. Hearing your laugh in the morning.
Because, WingMate isn’t just a job. It’s not just a place that we go to to earn money.
WingMate…for a lot of us is home. You’ve been my home for a very long time.
And, I want to thank you for that. I want to thank you…
for having this dream. Because your dream became our dream and that dream became a reality.
So, thank you for taking a chance on me. On us.” Chase smiles.
My eyes drop down to my hands gripping my glass. That almost sounded…genuine.
I look up to see Heather's face. Tears stream down her face as some other coworkers come out from the back with a cake filled with candles.
Heather jumps back, shocked at all the love that continues to pour.
“Yes! Group hug!” Chase shouts into the mic.
Oh man.
Chairs scrape and people cheer as the whole room surges toward Heather. She laughs, flustered but glowing, as someone nudges the cake closer and she leans in to blow out her candles.
“Come on!” Mia waves at me, already pulling Rachel’s hand as they disappear into the cluster of bodies.
At some point, the mic ends up back in Heather’s hands. She lifts it like a toast and grins, her voice cutting through the buzz:
“My wife’s pregnant, y’all!”
The room explodes. People scream, clap, whistle—even guests who don’t know her join in, caught in the infectious joy.
My chest tightens with something like awe. Heather will be an amazing mom. Of course she will.
I linger at the edge of the crowd, clapping, smiling, but not moving forward. Around me, arms fly up for hugs. Glasses clink. Laughter bubbles over like champagne.
And I just… watch.
This is the kind of warmth that wraps around you without asking for anything in return. The kind that feels like family.
Something I’ve always wanted.
Maybe never really had.
Chase rushes in, going straight for Heather. I watch them embrace, stuffing my hands in my pockets.
As the crowd slowly disperses, Mia, Rachel, Todd, and Bailey drift back toward me, their faces still glowing from the moment.
“Well, I’m heading out. I can’t do cake.” Bailey sighs loudly, sliding her purse up her shoulder.
“What do you mean you can’t do cake?” Todd frowns.
Bailey rolls her eyes. “I mean, I can’t eat sweets before bed. Nightmares?” She shrugs, crossing her arms. “Anyway, my Uber is already here.”
“Well, can I hitch a ride with you?” Todd asks.
Bailey groans. “Fine. Come on.”
I turn to move my attention to Mia and Rachel as they walk up beside me.
“Yeah, we’re probably going to head out too,” Rachel says shyly.
“We are?” Mia asks, confused. When she realizes quickly what Rachel is insinuating, she corrects herself, “Yes, we are.” Mia giggles.
I chuckle softly. It’s nice seeing two people so wrapped up into each other. I don’t think I’ve ever had that. It looks like it’d be nice having someone so close to you but…like my dad always says, ‘business will always be there when love isn’t’.
“Oh shit. We have to wait for Chase. I told him you’d drive him home.” Mia pouts to Rachel. Rachel hesitates. Clearly, this wasn’t spoken about beforehand.
Wanting to help them avoid an unnecessary conflict, I interject. “I’ll just drive him home.”
Mia turns to me. “Are you sure? He’s been drinking all night. He’s kind of a handful.”
I laugh. “You say that like he isn’t already a handful.”
She smirks. “You’re right about that.” She surprises me as she leans in for a hug. It’s nice as she buries her face in my chest. “Mmm, you smell good.”
“You can’t say that.” I chuckle lightly, patting her arm. Rachel grips her by the waist, pulling her towards the door.
“Why not?” She pouts, as she walks out.
“The rules.” I call out.
“Fuck the rules,” she calls back, throwing up a middle finger.
I smile, shaking my head. I have to admit, tonight was fun with them. It surprises me how much I wouldn’t mind doing that again.
“Where’d they go?” A muffled voice comes from behind me.
I turn back around to see Chase eating a mouthful of vanilla cake. I almost burst out laughing at the sight of it. He has some icing on his forehead.
How’d it even get there?
Deciding to leave it, I answer plainly, “Finish up and say your goodbyes.”
“Why?” he bites back, clearly unhappy about taking orders.
“I’m driving you home,” I breathe out.
He slips his thumb into his mouth, sucking off the last traces of vanilla icing.
My eyes catch the movement—fixate on it. The sheen left behind on his bottom lip keeps me staring.
He smacks his lips. “Mmmokay,” he hums. “Take me home, boss.”
Fuck.
This will be an interesting ride.