“It’s not my dream. It is … was Kori’s. She was really amped about it and I just wanted to do it for her. Sounds stupid, huh?”

He hesitated, taking me in with a long look before starting the car and turning his attention to the road. “No, not stupid.”

When we were back on I-70, I settled deeper into my seat. “I wasn’t that bad. Was I?”

“It wasn’t great.”

“Have you heard the song before?” I said with a playful grimace.

“I haven’t heard it, no.”

“Oh, well here.” I rooted out my iPod and cued up the song. As I leaned across the center console my arm brushed the hard planes of his chest; my fingertips grazing his jaw, his ear, his hair as I put the earphones on him. I couldn’t help but notice his eyes fighting to stay focused on the road; I had to pry mine away and remind myself to pull in some air.

After a few minutes, he took the earphones out. “You did really well. Your version even had a certain … quality. Sorry.”

“Apology accepted, jerk. So, what kind of music do you listen to?”

The noises he sputtered out in an attempt to sing made me laugh so hard I almost peed a little. I could barely make out the lyrics through his pathetic screeching howls.

“Okay, that wasn’t singing. You sounded like you were skinning a cat. The really mean way. Did you do that at your niece’s party? ‘Cuz that’s not right, dude.”

“What? It was good.” He looked way too proud of his Eminem rendition.

“You honestly think you can sing better than me?”

He nodded.

“You’re delusional. Cute, but delusional.”

We were quiet again. I kept thinking about how scared I’d been up on the stage with all those people just staring at me, like who the hell are you? For the crowd at the bar—I was nobody. And it scared the shit out of me. But then something had changed; I knew Kori wouldn’t have given a crap if they thought she was a hack, because the only person she ever answered to was herself. And then it didn’t matter to me if I was a horrible singer, because that wasn’t the point.

The point was I fought through my fear and I did it. I was unable to suppress another grin. I did it.

As we left the city, I saw the exit sign for Golden. The last place Kori went. Reality hit me hard.