Unspoken Words (Unspoken #1) (39 page)

When the door to Redemption opens, the loud thumping bass of the music reverberates through my entire body. The club is dark and the strobe lights are going along with the beat of the music, highlighting the people dancing. My eyes immediately scan the club. I begin to shake as the fearful images build in my mind. Pausing at the door, Jamie mouths, “You okay?”

I quickly force those images away. I nod, then give his hand a reassuring squeeze. He smiles back at me and we continue to make our way through the sea of people.

By the time we get to the stage, the band already has their equipment set up and they are at a nearby table drinking their beer.

As we approach the table, my brother stands and pulls me into a hug. He whispers in my ear, “You okay?”

I nod and smile knowing that everyone is worried about me. “If I need to leave, I’ll let you or Jamie know. But I think I can handle being here.”

My brother nods, acknowledging what I said.

Jamie puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me against his side. “I just ordered you a beer. I’m gonna head up on stage in a few minutes. If at any time you feel the need to leave, you let me or your brother know, got it?”

Leaning up on my toes, I place a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank you for looking out for me. I’ll be okay. My brother is here, all the girls are coming as well. I’ll be fine while you are on stage. I promise.”

Side Effects opens the night with a few fan favorites of their original material. There’s a bachelorette party going on tonight and they seem to have quite a crowd with them. The girls are all wearing white t-shirts with sayings embossed on their shirts in neon coloring. Some say ‘Suck It’, ‘Bite It’, ‘Lick It’, ‘Kiss It’, and ‘Nip It’. Those are just some of the few that are PG-rated. Some of the other girls have more explicit sayings on their shirt sleeves in the same neon coloring. With the black lights at the club tonight, they seem to be standing out in the crowd.

I know for sure, that is not what I would want for my bachelorette party. I would much prefer a weekend in Miami Beach, or even Las Vegas with my friends, possibly even a joint celebration with the guys, that is, unless, Jamie has other ideas.

The guys sound amazing tonight. The crowd is going crazy when the first few beats of the song tap out from the drums. Jamie is bouncing up and down on his feet, with his hands in the air. When Jamie starts with the lyrics,
Shut Up and Dance
by Walk the Moon, the crowd erupts. The noise is deafening. I absolutely love this song. I am up on my feet dancing along to the music. My body begins to sway to the beat. This song’s tempo is infectious. It makes your body move. There’s a tap on my shoulder. It startles me, making me jump. When I turn, Lincoln is standing next to me with his hand extended. “Come dance with me, baby girl.”

Before I can even answer his question, he captures my hand and leads me to the dance floor. Jamie sees me with Lincoln and nods his head. Lincoln grabs my hips, pulling me close to him. I throw my head back and laugh. This is the side of Lincoln that I don’t get to see often. The happy-go-lucky, carefree side. Usually when he is here at the bar or at the club, he is in business mode, always making sure everything runs smoothly.

I throw my arms around Lincoln’s neck as my hips move to the beat. We take turns singing the lyrics to each other. The facial expressions that Lincoln is making are cracking me up. With each line he sings, he raises his eyebrows at me signaling for me to sing the next. He is really into this song. I throw my hands above my head, moving them to the tempo of the song.

Jamie is working the crowd in front of the stage. The thump of Isaac’s drum is all you can hear as it echoes throughout the entire club. When Jamie reaches the chorus, he holds the mic stand over the crowd and they all begin to sing. Parker is behind Jamie clapping his hands above his head. The crowd follows him. I look around the dance floor and everyone has their hands above their heads clapping and singing along.

This is definitely a crowd favorite. I think almost everyone in the club is up on their feet dancing.

I make eye contact with Jamie, he smiles and winks at me. I’m sure he was nervous about me coming here tonight. Seeing me having a great time with our friends probably helps ease his fear as well, which I am glad. I didn’t want him to worry about me when he was on stage.

I see Morgan working her way through the crowd. When she reaches us, she pulls me into her and starts dancing with me.

Lincoln leans down, placing a kiss on my cheek, “I got some shit to take care of. Thanks for letting loose for just a few minutes with me.”

I pull him in for a hug. “I needed a good night out, thanks for making me laugh my ass off at you. I loved your rendition of the song.”

“Anytime, baby girl, you know I love to see you smile.” Before he turns to walk away, I notice the look that passes between him and Morgan. Huh, what was that look about? I’ll have to make a mental note to ask her what’s going on between the two of them.

I spot Lindsey and Karsen half way through the first set. After dancing several songs, we head over to the table to grab a drink.

The lights in the club dim, with one light focusing on Jamie. He lifts the hem of his shirt, wiping the sweat from his face. I see his perfect abs glistening from his exertion. The girls in the front hoot and holler when he lifts his shirt. He laughs at them, shaking his head in amusement.

“I want to wish my beautiful girlfriend a Happy New Year’s. This year will be better than the last. I promise. His voice, deep and sensual, sends a ripple of awareness through me. His gaze roams and lazily appraises me. The heat in his eyes makes me squirm in my seat.

I blow a kiss to Jamie, which he pretends to catch, then touches his lips with his fingers.

Jamie starts performing
One Life
by Boyce Avenue. He knows this is my favorite band, so I give him my undivided attention, my eyes focusing solely on him while he performs.

The lights on the stage go black for a brief moment. A spotlight appears on Jamie, and a second spotlight appears off toward the side of the stage.

Oh, my God . . . the lead singer of Boyce Avenue, Alejandro Manzano, steps out on stage. I cannot believe what my eyes are seeing. The lead singer of Boyce Avenue is walking across the stage with a mic in his hand singing along with my boyfriend. No way.

The two begin rotating verses. Jamie walks over toward the side of the stage where I’m now on my feet, lifting his brows at me as if saying, do you see this?

When the song ends, the rest of the Boyce Avenue band members come out on stage. The members of Side Effects leave the stage. Jamie introduces the rest of Boyce Avenue to the crowd and cheers erupt around me.

I am stunned when he tells us that Boyce Avenue is taking over the rest of the set and he has a hot date to get to. Jamie jumps down from the stage, making his way over to me. Before he even makes it to me, I launch myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. Jamie hoists my legs around his waist. I kiss my man with everything I have.

Jamie squeezes my ass, making me remember that we are in the middle of the club, surrounded by thousands of people, even our friends.

“Hey, get a room,” I hear my brother yell at us.

“Zip it, dude, she’s mine. You better get used to seeing me with your sister,” Jamie says to Christian.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t remind me. Just remember, she’s still my sister. I will still kick your ass if you hurt her,” Christian says.

I place my hands on Jamie’s cheeks bringing his attention back to me and ask, “How did you pull this off?”

“Your brother and I have been in the studio with them this week. I asked for a favor and they were more than happy to comply when I told them that they were your favorite band, well besides, Side Effects,” he says the last part jokingly.

“You are my favorite, babe. But they do come in a close second.”

Jamie places me on the stool, then stands behind me. “Sit back and enjoy the show, babe. After their set, I have a surprise for you.”

I tilt my body, so I can see Jamie over my shoulder. “You know how much I love surprises.”

“Yes, I do. Sit and enjoy the show. It’s not every day your man has Boyce Avenue come to perform just for you.”

For the next hour, I sit on the stool with Jamie’s arms wrapped around my shoulders. Boyce Avenue closes out their set with
Keep Holding On
. Jamie leans down and I feel his breath on my neck as he sings the words of the song in my ear.

As I lean back against his chest, I know there isn’t one thing he wouldn’t do for me. His love is unconditional. I am where I belong. Right here with Jamie . . . my Jamie.

Once Boyce Avenue wrapped things up on stage, Jamie leads me outside to a cab that’s waiting for us. The temperature has dropped since we arrived at Redemption. Our breaths leave white puffs of air hanging in front of us. I wouldn’t be surprised if it snows tonight.

Jamie opens the door, gesturing for me to hop in. “My dear, your chariot awaits you.”

I get into the cab, sliding across the seat. I rub my hands together trying to get warm. Once Jamie is in, he places his arm across my shoulder, pulling me into his side. I snuggle up against him, placing my cheek on his chest.

Jamie moves his hand up and down my arm while we travel to the unknown destination. I am trying to figure out where we are going by keeping an eye on my surroundings. The cab stops on the East Side of Central Park on 62
nd
Street.

Jamie pulls out some money to pay the driver and gets out first, holding the door for me. He leans into the cab and tells the driver something, but I can’t hear him.

“I thought we were going to dinner?” I ask.

“Change in plans,” Jamie takes my hand, entwining our fingers together. We enter Central Park and I am taken aback. All of the trees are lit with white lights, making it look like a winter wonderland. Jamie and I walk hand in hand until we reach a bench by the rink.

With its romantic backdrop, Wollman Rink puts us beneath the magical New York City skyline and its twinkling lights of the night.

There are two sets of ice skates sitting there. When I look at Jamie he has a mischievous grin on his face. “What?” he asks.

“We’re gonna ice skate, in the middle of the night, on New Year’s Eve at Central Park?”

“Skating on Wollman Rink is a winter tradition for us. We did it every year growing up. Come on, I’ll help you lace them up.”

I sit on the bench and take my heels off. I am not dressed to go ice skating. Thank God my coat is long enough in case I fall. I slip my foot in the skate and Jamie laces it up tight for me. He repeats the process with my other foot. Once I am laced and ready to go, I stand on my blades with wobbly knees. I haven’t skated here in years . . . maybe since high school, if I remember correctly.

Jamie gets suited up with his own skates, and he takes my hand, leading us to the rink. He is a natural on the ice, whereas I seem to have shaky legs tonight. I grip the side of the rink, helping hold myself up.

We start slow. Once I feel steady on my feet, I let go of Jamie’s hand. He spins and begins to skate backwards, keeping his eyes on me. Jamie has always been a good ice skater, even when we were little. I find a rhythm on the ice finally and pick up some speed.

There are tiny snowflakes falling from the sky. I skate over towards the wall. Once I reach it, I tilt my head back and I stick out my tongue to taste the snowflakes.

Jamie skates over to me, wrapping his strong arms around my waist. I turn around and wrap my arms around his neck. He hoists my body up and I wrap my legs around his waist. Jamie starts to skate with me attached to him. I tighten my grip around his neck so I don’t fall. “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll never let you fall,” he whispers in his husky voice.

Snow falls lightly from the sky, blanketing the grass and ground around us. It’s a picture perfect wonderland. We skate around the rink a few times, until he gently lets me down. We make our way back over to the bench.

Jamie squats down in front of me, on one knee to remove my foot from the skate. A touch of snow falls on Jamie’s hair and water droplets glisten on his face. The snow covers everything around us. It’s like our own personal snow globe, like when you tilt it upside down and everything turns white. I turn to grab my shoe and when I look back, he has a ring box in his hand. His handsome face is kindled with a sort of passionate beauty.