Chapter 14
Connor
Lover was delusional. There wasn’t a chance in hell Connor would sing.
His tone-deaf ass would scare everyone out of the building.
He wished he could be as carefree as Daisy.
She radiated joy, leaving an impression on everyone she met.
He could relate, she’d definitely left an impression on him.
He’d considered doing karaoke for her. No price.
But his teammates had already fallen to her charms. He needed to stay strong.
If they catered to her every whim, who knew what she’d have them do next.
When he returned from the bathroom, Daisy wasn’t in the booth, and a spike of anxiety rang through him. He sat and scanned the bar, hoping to find her chatting with one of her friends.
“She’s getting ready to sing,” Hazy informed him.
“Jesus, she can’t have had that much to drink, can she?”
Hazy laughed. “No, man, she’s been nursing the same drink for an hour. Some people don’t need alcohol to do cringey things. Daisy is one of those people.”
Connor was learning that about her. She was reserved around him, but she had no problems teasing or asking about interests or sharing little pieces of herself with everyone else.
He sighed and rested his chin on his fist as he watched Daisy take the stage, standing rigid at the microphone until the music played and she started swaying.
His heart skipped a beat when she sang the first notes.
He expected it to be horrible, but she had a beautiful voice.
She sang in tune, her posture and tone the exact picture of the feminine rage described in the song.
For the rest of his life whenever he heard “What’s Up” by Four Non-Blondes, this is what he’d picture.
In fact, he might add this song to every playlist he had to remember her like this.
By the second verse the crowd sang with her, enraptured by her performance.
The crowd hooted and hollered when it was over, and Daisy flounced back to the table, flushed and radiant. Connor stood so she could have her spot, and when he sat, she closed the gap between them. He let himself slip his arm around her, assuming the position they had held most of the night.
Hazy slow-clapped and Daisy tipped an imaginary hat. “Now I know the real reason you chose karaoke. You’re good at it and wanted to show off.”
“Being good at something doesn’t automatically mean you’re showing off.”
Lover folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow. “You’re right. It doesn’t, but you were.”
Daisy laughed. “Maybe a little. I like to show off my skills sometimes. You guys should get that; it’s a huge part of your job. And I don’t get to do it as often.”
She shifted in her seat to face him again, and his body revolted at the loss of her touch.
He wondered if he’d ever get used to the awkward positions she insisted on sitting in.
Comfortable, she picked up her napkin phone numbers and used them to fan her face.
Those goddamn phone numbers. Connor was torn between wanting to punch Hazy for suggesting such a dumb bet, and flushing the napkins down the fucking toilet.
His little crush was stupid. He should keep it professional.
If she weren’t being paid, she wouldn’t be spending time with them.
Going crazy over a woman wasn’t like him.
He needed to snap out of it and get his head on his shoulders.
He was there to bond with his teammates, not flirt with their pretty team-building coach.
All of them getting caught up in her was a sort of bonding, but that was beside the point.
Daisy caught him glaring and pulled the napkins to her face so he would meet her eyes.
“This might be way off base, but your teammates here are positive I have everything I need,” she fanned the phone numbers in front of her face.
“Right here.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “But I’m not sure that’s the case.”
“Is that so?” Amusement tugged at his lips, but he managed to school his expression.
She nodded, eyes wide, her grip on the napkins tight enough to tear them in half. Connor could only hope.
“Well, I guess it depends.” Connor tore his gaze from her and settled it on his ecstatic teammates.
“On what?”
“On what you want.” His heart rate picked up. He was going to end up on that fucking stage with his dumbass teammates.
“It’s pretty clear what I want. I’ve been asking all night. I want you to sing a karaoke song. And I want you all to do it together, and I get to choose the song.”
Hazy and Lover objected.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
“Hey now, that wasn’t the deal.”
Daisy’s Cheshire Cat grin sent them into a tailspin.
This fucking woman. “It’s a new deal. You guys played your hand way too soon.
You gave me the answer as soon as Connor took a single step away from the table.
Betrayal doesn’t go unpunished around here.
Your loyalty is to each other. Not to me.
Or the fans. Or even the fucking goalie. ” She stared them down. “Understand?”
When they all confirmed they understood, her mood lightened. “Okay, maybe a little to the goalie.” Her joke (but not really a joke) cut the tension, and they chuckled.
Connor needed her exact terms if he was going to make an ass out of himself. “What’s your offer, Daisy?”
“You three sing a song of my choice, together, and I get to take a picture.”
Lover’s face blanched. “No picture.”
She frowned at him. “One picture. No video. And I’ll pinky promise it never gets posted anywhere.”
Hazy asked, “Why do you want a picture?”
Daisy’s commanding demeanor turned shy in the blink of an eye. Connor missed the confident version of her that had been with them all night. He opened his mouth to tell her she didn’t need to explain, but she beat him to it.
She focused on the table as she admitted, “I love the Freeze. Have since they existed. I follow the fan pages and watch every game. I rotate through your jerseys on game days. I could recite your stats off the top of my head. The photo is for me, so when you guys get your game back and don’t need me anymore, I can remember this happened. It’s real.”
Lover smiled through his groan. “Well, fuck. Now I have to agree to a picture.”
“If you all agree, I’ll hand over this stack of phone numbers to Connor.”
He hated her sudden shyness. He wished he could hug her and reassure her they’d always need her, but he couldn’t guarantee he’d be around in a few weeks. Connor didn’t have to consider.
“Deal.”
They shook on it, and Daisy climbed over him again to go choose a song. He could have moved, but he was weak, and if her climbing over him was the only way she’d be straddling him, he would take what he could get.
They watched her talk to the MC for a few seconds, then she returned with a pep in her step. “You guys know “Bye Bye Bye,” right? By NSYNC?”
Hazy and Connor hung their heads but confirmed their knowledge.
Lover, on the other hand, furrowed his eyebrows. “NSYNC? You know I was born in 2004, right?”
Daisy clutched at her chest, startled. “Jesus Christ, are you allowed to be in here?” She glanced around the bar, scanning the crowd like someone might come kick them out.
Hazy elbowed Lover. “I was born in 2003, and I know it. You’ve sung it during practice before. It’s the one with this dance move.” He stuck his arm out straight in front of him, swinging it while he opened and closed his hand in the iconic dance move.
“Oooh! Yeah, I know that one. I don’t know the whole dance, though.”
Daisy clapped. “I don’t care about the dance. Have fun.”
They each took different approaches to the song.
Lover stood behind Hazy and Connor on the stage.
Hazy decided it would be appropriate to go shirtless because ‘it would distract from the horrible singing.’ But Connor went all in.
He did know the dance, and already humiliating himself, he decided to jump in with both feet.
This would be the one occasion in his life where this particular skill would come in handy.
He sang a bit, but mostly he danced, giving himself over to the music while he relied on Hazy and Lover to carry the tune.
The audience gave them as much love as they had to Daisy, which didn’t seem fair considering her talent. They got back to their table, and Daisy gave them a standing ovation and hugged each of them. Connor waited until last and held on a little longer than appropriate.
He buried his face in her hair and asked, “Can we please go home now?”
Daisy pulled away from him and laughed, handing over his prize. “Yes, we can go home now.”
“Thank fuck.”
As they stood outside in the cool air, Connor flipped through the stack of phone numbers searching for one in particular. During his count he realized one was missing.
“Hey,” he said, with accusation in his tone. “We’re missing one.”
“I gave Amber’s to Hazy,” Daisy replied. “She asked me to pass it along.”
Connor nodded, but then Lover piped in, “You put it in your phone though!”
Daisy shrugged. “Yeah, I’m keeping that one. I can always use more friends.”
Connor didn’t push his luck. He plucked out his own phone number, slipped it into Daisy’s hand, and tossed the rest of the stack into the nearby garbage. “Here, you can keep this one too.”