Page 121 of Sing Your Secrets

thirty-five

Reese

The crowd is packed. The venue is dark. Miles stays true to his sexy lumberjack look tonight on stage. His dark pants and dark muscle T-shirt, covered by his buffalo plaid flannel, is almost identical to the outfit he wore the first time I met him here. All we’re missing is his beanie. It was cold back then when all that was surrounding us was a hollow building, rubble, and ruin.

But there’s no need for a warm hat tonight amidst the steamy summer evening.

The colored strobe lights in alternating pinks, greens, and blue light up the wide smile on my face. There’s not an inch of space between the sea of bodies huddled together to see him take control of the stage.

MiLo! MiLo! MiLo!

The crowd chants. He uses their energy to make the entire venue come alive. They didn’t even scream this loud when Petey performed his song. This is the Miles effect. After two encore performances, he’s singing covers now as the crowd demands more and more…

I get it. That’s what he does. This man makes youwant more.

The Garage isn’t the same as a sold-out stadium, but I get the feeling this crowd is even louder. All he needed was the stage. Just a little attention and now all the best people in Denver, who had the good sense to buy a ticket to tonight’s show, get to see what I saw all those months ago.

This essence.

This joy.

A voice that will wake up the sleepiest of hearts.

Miles strides back and forth on stage as he sings, his eyes locked on mine for most of the performance. From time to time, I point left and right to remind him to look around the crowd and make eye contact with all his new fans. But he has tunnel vision, and he’s looking at me like I’m the only person in this room.

He smiles at me like I light up his world.

Like maybe…just maybe…

I make him as happy as he makes me.

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