Free My One Regret (Martin Family Book 3) by Brooke St. James

smiled. "These guys sound amazing tonight, don't they?"
    The audience clapped and cheered, and I took a second to turn around and greet each of the members of the band with a smile. "Hey Wynn," Gino said from behind the drum kit. I smiled and waved at him before facing the audience again.
    "I guess we're gonna do Fever for you guys, so here goes nothin'—" I said, but even as I started talking, the guy playing upright bass started plucking away at his instrument, making that familiar series of notes at the beginning of the song.
    "Sounds like Fever to me," I said, smiling as I situated myself in front of the mic stand.
    The bass player continued to play several rounds before the drummer joined him. I let them play an intro for longer than the original recording, and then I joined them by snapping for a round or two before I came in with the vocals. There was a small round of applause from my snapping alone, which helped me out since I was feeling somewhat self-conscious at the moment. I smiled a little as I closed my eyes and began to sing.
    "Never know how much I love you,
    Never know how much I care,
    When you put your arms around me,
    I get a fever that's so hard to bear.
    You give me fever when you kiss me,
    Fever when you hold me tight,
    Fever in the morning,
    A fever all through the night."
    It was a song I had performed so many times that I just sort of relaxed and fell into the lyrics headfirst. I sang the whole first verse with my eyes closed, but I smiled and opened them when everyone broke into applause. People always loved it when they'd been listening to an instrumental band and a singer came up on stage. It wasn't necessarily because I was an amazing vocalist or anything, but the audience was certainly reacting as if that was the case, and I smiled, remembering how much I enjoyed the thrill of performance. I opened my eyes and looked all around, enjoying myself even though I totally thought I wouldn't.
    "Sun lights up the daytime," I sang, continuing the second verse.
    "Moon lights up the night,
    I light up when you call my name,
    And you know I'm going to treat you right.
    You give me fever when you kiss me,
    Fever when you hold me tight,
    Fever in the morning,
    A fever all through the night."
    Gino, the drummer, had been playing little low drumbeats on cue while I was singing, and I danced and gave the crowd some shoulder action during the places when he did that, which they loved. I glanced back at him, and we shared a conspiratorial smile.
    It was right after I glanced at Gino that it happened.
    As soon as I turned and looked back into the restaurant, I saw him.
    Ryan.
    Ryan Collins.
    My Ryan.
    I was so stunned that it didn't even register that I should be singing. We were at the bridge and I had already missed the opportunity to sing the entire first part.
    "Everybody's got the fever,
    that is something you all know," was completely skipped, and I had to catch up at,
    "Fever isn't such a new thing,
    Fever started long ago."
    Thankfully, there was a little drum and bass solo before it was time for me to sing the third verse. I continued to snap and smile and act casual even though my heart was about to beat right out of my chest.
    Ryan.
    He was there.
    I wanted to jump off of the stage and go running into his arms. I wanted to cry and beg him to forgive me for being so stupid two years ago. He glanced at the stage, and instantly made eye contact with me. My eyes were locked with his when I sang.
    "Romeo loves Juliet,
    Juliet she felt the same,
    When he put his arms around her,
    He said Julie baby you are my flame,
    Thou giveth fever,
    when we kisseth,
    Fever with thy flaming youth,
    Fever I'm on fire,
    Fever, yeah, I burn forsooth."
    I sang the whole verse to him before he broke eye contact with me. It wasn't until he leaned over to speak to the girl next to him that I realized she was standing there. I could see, even from a distance that she had dark hair and dark eyes and resembled, well, me. I was