“I’m fine now. I needed to get that out.”
Walking over to Ken, I take the microphone with a wordless look. I still don’t see Michael. Did he go back to the kitchens? Did he leave while everyone was celebrating Ken and Brady’s marriage news? Had I missed my chance?
He can’t have gone that far. For some reason, I’m reminded of that moment in the snowstorm when I thought I was alone and decided to sing, praying someone would hear me.
I need him to hear me now.
I take a breath and start to sing without musical accompaniment while every member of the Finn family, and most of the lodge employees, stare at me.
You’re just too good to be true
Can’t take my eyes off of you
Bless the keyboardist for knowing his classics and following my lead. I’m not sure why I pick this song. There are so many to choose from. Musical numbers, movie soundtracks, every love song ever written at my fingertips, and it’s this simple song—a slower, slightly more modern rendition than the original Frankie Valli’s—that pops out of my mental jukebox, saying the words I need Michael to hear.
You’d be like heaven to touch
I want to hold you so much
I lost it and walked away from him earlier because I was afraid. I still am, but I couldn’t let it stop me from admitting something so beautifully, obnoxiously obvious.
I’m in love with Michael Demir.
He’s standing a few feet away from the stage, staring up at me as though mesmerized. We’re almost in the exact position we were in the first time we saw each other, and relief washes over me. He’s still here.
It’s been like this between us from the beginning. And that cord between us keeps drawing us together. Making it impossible to look away or deny what’s between us. A few days or a few years, something in me knows it won’t make any difference.
I don’t want to be with him because I don’t want to be alone and anyone will do. I’m not my mother, the same way he keeps insisting he’s not his father. We’re Win and Michael, and wherever we go from here can be entirely up to us.
The rest of the band catches up as I step off the stage and walk towards him.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I’m alive
You’re just too good to be true
Can’t take my eyes off of you
When I get to the “I love you baby’s,” he gently pulls me into his arms. I sing the rest of the song as he sways us back and forth among all the dancers who’ve poured onto the floor around us. Then I turn off the mic and let it drop between us as the band keeps playing.
“I might be followed by evil satellites for the rest of my life,” I murmur.
Michael smiles. “Why is that?”
“Because I used Tanaka’s wedding announcement to get you back here.”
Michael glances over my head. “He’s wrapped in his blissful husband’s arms. And technically, he used someone else’s anniversary party to announce his wedding, so you were just following his lead. I think we’re safe.”
When he meets my gaze again, my heart is beating so hard I can feel it in my throat. “I’m sorry about earlier. My weird caveman rant, dropping my trauma at your feet and then leaving… Just all of it.”
“You never have to apologize to me for telling the truth.” He shakes his head. “I’d rather you hadn’t left after, but I understand.”
“I’m glad you do. Because I have no idea how to do any of this.”
His brow furrows. “Do what?”
My mouth drops open. “Was that song not clear enough? I’ve never serenaded anyone to tell them I might be in love with them before. I’m not sure if I did it right.”
