Page 119 of Fight For Me

“Go get ‘em, Bambi,” she says with a wicked grin.

“I told you we’re not doing Bambi.”

“But it’s so cute!”

“Dude,” River says, leaning forward to gape at me. “She calls youBambi?”

I scowl at her. “Now look what you did.”

“Sorry,” she says, not at all apologetically.

“Are you playing, or what?” Will asks.

I make a big show of cracking my knuckles. “Any requests?”

“I assumed you’d be playing our song,” Alex says.

I nod once then walk over to the piano. Most of my cousins cheer, though I hear Silas loudly complaining about my “boring classical crap.” I flip him off as I take my seat on the bench.

I feel the strangest well of nervousness rise up in me as I look down at the black and white keys. I never get nervous to play piano, not even when I’m sitting alone on a stage in front of hundreds of people. But I feel nervous now. It’s been too long.

I look up and see Alex’s steady gaze on me. I flex my fingers, preparing to start the opening notes of Liszt’s “Love Dream.” Right before I touch the keys, I change my mind. I grin at Alex then start to play.

It takes her a few minutes to pick up on the melody, and when she does, she throws her head back and laughs. I know the chords well enough, having messed around with this a few times while practicing with my physical therapist. I figured I’d play it for her someday in private—maybe as a prelude to getting her into bed—but I’ll deal with the embarrassment of playing it in front of my family to get her to laugh like that.

“Oh my god,” Everly squeals. “He’s playing Alex’s song!”

River groans. “Dude. I had more respect for you than this.”

I just shrug as I continue to play the instrumental cover of “I Want it That Way.” Most of the kids are too young to be familiar with it anyhow, so I’m not that embarrassed. If the older cousins recognize Alex’s song and realize I’m completely wrapped around her finger, so be it. She looks about as happy as I’ve ever seen her, and that’s good enough for me.

Fox covers his ears—super mature. “You know,” he tells Alex, “he’s just playing it all slow and fancy like that so that you can’t do your terrible dance to it.”

Everly smacks his shoulder. “He’s playing it slow and fancy because it’s romantic! And I’d just like to remind everyone that I’m the one who said Wyatt has a hidden romantic side when we played Most Likely.”

Alex just laughs, her eyes bright.

“Hang on,” my dad says, apparently cluing in. “What the hell is this? Are you playing Backstreet Boys in my house? There’s no fucking Backstreet Boys in my house!”

“Cecelia,” I call out without missing a note. “Collect your money, girl.”

She shoves her hand in my dad’s face, giving him her sweetest smile. “Swear jar!”

I catch Alex’s eye and jerk my head to the space next to me on the bench. I love that she doesn’t hesitate. She doesn’t care that every eye is on us, doesn’t care that half the family is grumbling and complaining about my song choice. She’s not the slightest bit embarrassed as she practically skips up to the piano and sits next to me on the bench.

“I was thinking more along the lines of Liszt, but this is a better choice,” she murmurs, grinning up at me.

“I learned it just for you, sweetheart. All slow and fancy.”

She laughs that husky laugh again and kisses the side of my arm. I throw in a glissando before the last chorus—that’s the technical term for that thing pianists do when they slide over all the keys from top to bottom. Will and Dad boo at my showing off, but Alex just laughs more.

Across the room, I catch sight of Levi out of the corner of my eye. For the first time tonight, he doesn’t look angry. Then again, he’s watching Alex, not me. He has a contemplative expression on his face, and I wonder what he’s thinking.She’s happy,I call to him silently.That’s all I want for her.

His eyes shift to me and I see something like acceptance in his gaze. He doesn’t look thrilled, but he doesn’t look like he wants to rip my head off, either. Maybe he’ll come around after all.

When I’m finished, there’s a pretty equal mix of cheers and boos. I give an obnoxious bow and pull Alex back to our place on the floor. George is waiting and squeezes in between the two of us once we’re sitting. My brother leans over. “Please don’t ever do that again.”

I just grin. “Gotta keep my girl happy.”