“Ha,” she clapped her hands. “That’s too good. Give the guy a break, Harp, life’s too short.”

I knew that better than anyone.

“He’s not the one, Jill.”

There was a loud mic shriek from the stage, and everyone turned.

My eyes went wide when I looked over. August was standing center stage, wearing a white linen shirt that hung loosely over his khaki pants. His hair was beachy and his confidence strong.

“Oh look at that, it works, hi everyone.” August smiled at the crowd as he shifted the mic off the stand.

“Oh my God, what is he doing?” I mumbled.

“Hope you all don’t mind my stepping up here for a bit.”

There were several cheers, no doubt of his regular customers over the past week.

“Awesome, thanks for that. So I know we’ve got a little bit of an older crowd here, hold your tomatoes and eggs for the morning, I’ve got a point, I promise.”

The crowd laughed. I wasn’t surprised; they were all good-humored.

“I wanted to sing a song. If you all knew me from two weeks ago, I wouldn’t be caught dead up here offering to sing or do anything but work for that matter, but I’ve got a song…it’s borrowed, but I think it suits.”

“You all ever watch The Little Mermaid?”

There were a few cheers just from the women, but I stood frozen.

Jill snuck up beside me, slipping my beer out of my hands. “I’mma take that.”

“Well a few years ago, I was walking the halls of my high school…yes I’m that young. Anyway, I see this beautiful girl. She’s new, never seen her before and God, I really wanted to talk to her. Help her with that damn locker she couldn’t for the life of her open.”

My features involuntarily softened.

“But I was no ladies man. No, that…that was all my brother—but we won’t get into that. Anyway, I tried and tried until…well someone else tried better so I never got a chance to talk to her. But I realized I was going about it all wrong.”

There was some inaudible feedback from the audience that sounded like curiosity.

“I should have just kissed the girl.”

Cheers roared and my lips twitched as I watched him maneuver the mic as the band started playing a modern-day tune of the familiar song.

To my utter bewilderment and quite possibly contentment, August sang the entire song. Word for freaking word. Stealing glances with gravity at me with each lyric. While I stayed incredibly still—despite the fact that he was singing what I considered the most romantic song in the world.

I shivered when he looked at me with sadness as he sang the last lyric that he’d miss the girl.