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The smell of smoke wafted through the air as I walked up to the doors of Ships. Max was walking beside me, talking about one of his students and how he’d found him ramming a girl in the locker room before school the other day.
I couldn’t believe it. Our laughter continued even as we walked through the bar doors, but mine slowly dwindled as I searched for Ivy. I looked towards the booths and felt utter disappointment when I didn’t see her.
But I did hear her.
I moved my attention to the stage in the far corner of the bar and then I saw her. The sight of her took my breath away.
Max was still talking about the school incident, but I couldn’t even form a coherent thought. I was too focused on Ivy up on the stage, shaking out her golden-brown hair, arms thrown up above her head, laughing and singing with Becca.
She was happy and beautiful.
And I couldn’t believe that she was finally mine.
I couldn’t believe that I no longer had to chase a ghost.
“My God, she’s fucking beautiful,” I muttered under my breath.
Max stopped talking, but I didn’t look over at him. I couldn’t. I was too enthralled in watching Ivy bask in her carefree, spirited ways. It was like I’d been taken back to when she was a teenager, when she didn’t have a care in the world…she was always smiling and she always carried this lightness around with her.
“Yeah, she is…” Max said under his breath. I snapped my head over to his, surprised, but then I followed this stare.
He wasn’t looking at Ivy… he was looking at Becca.
I smirked, watching him watch her.
I wonder if he knew that he was totally fucking into her? Because I was almost positive he didn’t realize he’d said that aloud and that he was currently looking at Becca as if she walked on water.
I turned my head back, glancing up at my girl singing the chorus, and then her eyes met mine.
An even bigger smile formed on her face, white teeth shining against the pink of her lips. She kept singing and I walked steadily over to her, ignoring everyone in my way.
The second I got below the stage, with her and Becca still sharing a microphone, I lifted an eyebrow up and pulled myself up, too.
Becca’s head tilted, wondering what the fuck I was doing, but Ivy…she just smiled and continued to sing as loud as she could.
She and Becca were on their second round, the chorus creeping up, and that’s when I moved in front of Ivy, stealing the microphone out of her hands.
She laughed, eyes wide, and then I stole the show.
I took my free hand and grabbed hers, swinging her around and bringing her back to my body.
I belted out the lyrics to "Mamma Mia" as loud as I could while staring down into a pair of forest-colored eyes.
Ivy cackled with laughter in my arms. It was like the soundtrack to my life; hearing her laugh was like switching radio stations in my truck, trying my hardest to find that one song I wanted and when I would find it, it was like a gift. I would never turn it off and I’d always be searching for it.
“I love you, Ivy. I hope you know that,” I admitted, right into the microphone, for everyone to hear. Her laughter faded, but her smile didn’t.
Her green eyes glistened under the bright lights as she reached her face up to mine. I threw the microphone behind me, landing with a loud thump on the wooden stage, and then leaned her back,
planting a kiss on her mouth.
Ivy wove her hands around my neck and applause went through the bar, drunk people hooting and hollering, a whistle here and there.
I continued to kiss Ivy, both of us forming smiles along our lips through the applauding. I pulled her up the second Becca’s voice sounded through the bar, blaring into the microphone.
“And here you have it ladies and gents, a real-life love story!!”