Page 91 of Lunar Diamonds
He kept hold of me, wiping his eyes on his long sleeves. “We’ve got to stick together.”
“That’s right. Through thick and thin. We don’t let anything or anyone break us. I know that’s easier said than done, but we can’t let the arseholes get us down. Aurora Unit, power up.”
He snorted, squeezing my hands this time. “Thank you. I agree. I just know that I trust you, too.” He exhaled a long breath.
“Good to know.”
We hugged to seal the pact, our attempt at brotherly unity amazing. A steel thread joined to Isaac, entwining with our shared purpose.
I would see this through, face the danger with him and everyone under this roof.
“Enough of this,” Isaac said, swinging his legs off the big sofa. “Let’s have some fun.”
A fabulous idea. My vocal cords were craving some musical stretching. “Karaoke?”
He quirked an elegant brow at me. “For real?”
“For real.”
I rolled off the sofa, making a dash for the machine resembling a jukebox with a big screen and an arched light. Complete with two mics.
Isaac joined me. “What shall we sing?”
Flipping the on switch brought the arch to life. A red-and-purple light pulsed through it, a chirpy tune welcoming us as the screen brought up a menu.
“Spice Girls?” I suggested.
“Yes!” he cried. “I was actually thinking that.” He clapped his hands. “Proves we’re brothers. Okay, so what song?” He placed two fingers on each temple, staring me in the eye. “Come on triplet bond. Talk to us.”
I giggled. “Give your answer in three, two, one… ‘Say You’ll Be There!’”
“‘Stop!’ Oh, fuck.” He snorted.
This gave me all the warm and fuzzies. “You’re the oldest, so we’ll go with your pick first.”
He rubbed his cheek. “Get ready for pain.”
“What do you mean?”
As the song wound down a few minutes later, I understood why. Isaac might be a big supermodel, but what a set of brutal pipes.
Yikes.
“Told you,” he said with a shrug.
My ears rang from the caterwauling. “At least you, erm, tried.”
“Honey, I couldn’t give two fucks. This is fun. If your ears can take it, let’s do the other song.”
You had to admire that. No matter what, fun trumped everything else. That’s why I loved to sing karaoke. For the elation. To overcome the troubles and hopscotch away from it. If only for a little while.
Someone knocked on the door.
“What?” Isaac called rather haughtily.
“Is everything alright in there?” Drake asked from the other side.
My chest fluttered like butterflies trapped in a jar.
