Page 125 of Ember

Kinsey cocked his head and hummed a few bars. “Huh. It does.”

“Hold on,” Ben said urgently. He tapped some more buttons on the laptop and twisted back to face the piano. “You want the piano at the same beat?”

“Maybe take it up half a notch?” Kinsey said, frowning.

“We can tweak it later if it’s not right,” Ben said, wiggling his fingers.

The intro of the piano started up again, and the beat increased a tiny bit.

This time, Kinsey sang the opening line and then looked at Rian. Rian picked up the other two lines, his husky voice an amazing counterpoint to Kinsey’s baritone.

I would never get used to hearing Rian sing, just make music around me as if it were nothing special, and not like watching a comet or seeing a unicorn.

Kinsey sang, swaying his hips, strumming the guitar, with additions from Rian, and it just felt right.

I felt it the moment everything snapped together. They hit the chorus, trading off lines, and then singing the third line together, Rian hitting a higher note, and Kinsey going soft and melodic.

Better yet, they were both looking at each other, grinning like they were having the time of their life. The song morphed into a duet about love and heartbreak but moving on and being stronger for it.

The song flowed out of them, and I got chills. They reached the break, where all the instruments stopped, and Kinsey wailed out, “And look at you now.”

The instruments picked up again, and Rian and Kinsey belted out one last chorus before stopping.

Ben sat back, looking like the cat that got the canary. Kinsey went over and high-fived Rian. “Yeah, man, that’s what I’m talking about.”

Rian laughed. “That was all you. That’s the song.”

They did the bro hug, clapping each other on the back, and I couldn’t stop beaming.

“Come here.” Rian held out his hands. I jumped up and hugged him from the side because he was still wearing his guitar around the strap.

“Great idea.” He kissed my cheek. “It’s almost like you have an ear for music.”

Kinsey was beaming. “When are we going to get to hear you sing? I got, like, twenty other songs. Or we could just mess around.”

I looked at Rian. “That’s your revenge for suggesting a duet?”

Rian looked smug. “It is. Come on, we already did Wheels on the Bus. This will be nothing.”

“Don’t you need to record more stuff?” I looked at Kinsey.

“Let’s just let loose.” He glanced at Rian and Ben. “If that’s fine with the boss?”

“It’s a great idea. We need to blow off some steam,” Ben said, randomly hitting some notes on the piano. The mood was happy and infectious. “What about a cover? So everyone knows the lyrics?” He shifted to his left, where his laptop was parked. “I’ve got a bunch of backing tracks.”

Nerves squiggled inside me. I wanted to play along, but the studio felt more…formal. No wonder Rian got stage fright.

Rian took my hips and shifted me near his microphone. “We can share, babe. Lady picks.” He shot me a questioning look.

I wanted to be there, I realized. It just felt…weird. “I don’t want to be a professional singer.”

“Don’t have to be,” Kinsey said. “My sister has a great voice too. We sing along in the car and have fun.”

“Like in the kitchen,” I mused. “This is my golden opportunity.”

“Yourgolden opportunity? Try mine.,” Ben muttered. “I am still recording, but I have to remind everyone about rights. So anything owned by other people can’t be officially released.”

That felt like less pressure, and even Rian relaxed at that. We were goofing off but didn’t have the rights to what we would be singing. “Awesome.”

---