No Name, All Feeling - Teddy POV
608 Words
Two hours after stepping off stage, I was still buzzing—and not just from the beer.
The karaoke bar was dim and crowded, cheap LED lights pulsing in time with some girl’s off-key rendition of “Before He Cheats.” Brody was holding court at our table with a ridiculous story about the last time he got blackout drunk in Austin. Thomas was arguing with the DJ about what counted as “karaoke safe.”
And Blue—she was laughing.
Full body, head-thrown-back kind of laughing. The sound cut straight through the noise. Like a melody only I could hear.
She was sitting across from me in the booth, cheeks flushed, white crop top clinging in all the right places, her boots kicked off under the table. Her hair was wild from the show, her mascara smudged in a way that looked better than it had earlier. Effortless chaos.
Ellie shoved her phone in front of Blue with a squeal. “Watch it again! You have to—look at your face when the chorus hits!”
Blue groaned but leaned in anyway, and there we were—on stage, singing Goodluck Babe like we’d done it a thousand times. Like we belonged there together.
I already had the video on my phone. Ellie sent it to me the second it was over, and I posted it to No Name’s t****k account without even thinking. Tagged @wanderwithblue. Just a quick caption: “Caught a star tonight.”
The comments had been flooding in ever since:
“Who is she?”
“Okay but the CHEMISTRY???”
“I need a duet album yesterday.”
“Him = hot. Her = hotter. Them = illegal.”
There were a few creepers, of course—comments about Blue that made my jaw clench. I deleted them as fast as I could.
And then I couldn’t stop watching it either.
Not the views. Not the likes. Just… her.
The way she looked at me during that second chorus. Like she trusted me with something she didn’t even want to admit she had.
Now she was here. Still glowing. Still magnetic. Brody said something dumb and she tossed her head back again, the kind of laugh you feel in your ribs. And I just stared.
Couldn’t help it.
Couldn’t stop.
I’d already told myself this was just a summer thing. A good story. A hot fling.
But Blue didn’t feel like a fling.
She felt like a goddamn moment.
She caught me staring, lips parting in surprise before a slow smile curved across her face. That smile could wreck a man.
I leaned toward her. “Blue,” I said, low enough that only she could hear, “can I talk to you?”
Her brows lifted, still smiling, but something shifted behind her eyes. “Sure.”
I slid out of the booth and she followed me toward the back of the bar, where it was quieter. She leaned against the wall like she owned the place, one boot tapping gently against the floor.
“I want you to stay,” I said. Straight out. No soft lead-in. Just truth.
The smile fell from her face like a light switch.
She blinked. “What?”
“Stay. With us. On tour.” I shoved my hands in my pockets before I could do something dumb like reach for her. “Just for the summer. Finish it out with No Name.”
Blue didn’t say anything right away.
Didn’t look away, either.
She just stared at me like I’d handed her a live grenade and asked her to cradle it.
- Writer
