Karaoke

They pulled into the lot of a bar called Nitro's. It was just down the street from Ava's. It was a smaller bar. There was a large U-shaped bar in the middle of the room. Five booths were against the wall, and the other side was lined with high-top tables. In the corner was a small stage. Music could be heard all the way out in the parking lot. He helped Allie out of the car.

"Surprise," he smiled.

She looked confused. He took her hand. "Did we just drive 20 minutes for you to take me to a hole in the wall?"

"Come on," he said.

He pulled her to the door. He was so excited. When the door opened, she heard an awful rendition of Dancing Queen that would have made ABBA cry.

"We drove 20 minutes so that you can bring me to a hole in the wall with a shitty band playing?"

Dean smirked. "Babe, just go inside."

She went down the small hallway through a second door. The place was crowded.

"Oh my God, Cowboy. No fucking way!" she exclaimed.

It was karaoke night. She saw a hand in the air, waving. It was Bruss and Shelly.

"Oh my God, Are you sure it's not my birthday in two days?"

She kissed him quickly, all over his face.

"I love you, Dean Edward Stapleton! You are SO getting laid tonight," she said.

He followed them into the bar. Of all the fucking places, he thought. He took one of the few stools left at the bar. She was directly in his line of sight. He couldn't wait for her to see her room. He hoped she would be as happy with it as she looked right now. Even though he had just started, setting up had cost him a pretty penny.

They walked over. Bruss looked at his watch.

"Running a little late, are we?"

"He brought me two dozen lilies," she said. "Then we went to the most amazing dinner where I learned I love Cabernet."

"Hey Bill," Dean said and fist-bumped Bruss.

"Ted, this is Shelly."

Dean stuck out his hand, and so did Shelly. He took it and kissed the back of it.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said.

She blushed. "You too."

"Drinks?" Bruss asked.

"Of course," Allie and Dean said together.

"Dean, come with me. People will get out of your way. They can't miss you."

"I'll miss you, baby," Allie said.

"So will I," blurted out Shelly.

Bruss looked at her.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll cross my mind when you're gone too." She blew him a kiss.

"Man, your friends must hate it when you go out with them," Bruss said.

"Let's just say now that I have a fiancé, they feel a little safer bringing me along."

They walked off and headed to the bar.

"I don't know how you fucking do it, Allie. First, it was Alvarez, and now him...he is fucking unbelievable."

"I know, right? Look at these."

Allie stuck her foot in the air like she was in a chorus line.

"Oh my God! Are those Louboutin?"

"Yes. He likes me in heels, so he got me these."

"Allie, those are eleven-hundred-dollar shoes. How the hell can he afford those on a Fed's salary?" she asked.

"None of my business. I can say with confidence he's not a drug dealer."

"Well, if he has any more of them lying around, I need a nice pair of heels too. So, how is he in bed?"

"Okay, that was fast. Have I ever asked you how Bruss is in bed?" she asked.

"He is rather good, but my guess is he's better. So, tell me. Is he good in bed?"

"He is absolutely. phenomenal, Shell."

She separated her hands. "You should see the size of his…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. The guys had already come back. They stood at the end of the table, looking at the girls.

"Did we interrupt something," Bruss asked.

"No, not at all. We were talking about how we've been sleeping at night. I was telling Shelly how much I pray at night. God hears me say his name extremely often. That's all," she said, winking at Dean.

"Yeah… sure it is," Bruss said.

Dean held out his hands once again, five shots each. Bruss had four beers and a cup of limes. "You know Patrick, the first time I did a shot of tequila with her, Allie taught me something called a—"

Allie cut him off. "I really don't think we need to go into that right now."

"No. Please continue," Bruss said.

"Have you ever heard of a body shot?" Dean asked.

Shelly Let out a snort.

Bruss turned to Shelly. "Oh really? Apparently, you have. How come I've never heard of this body shot thing?"

"Oh, honey, you're a little too reserved, and that's all I'm going to say about that," Shelly told him.

They each had two tequila shots, with Allie and Dean taking the other two. They talked briefly, then returned to the bar and got another round.

"Where did you find him? And does he have a brother?" Shelly asked.

"He has a sister, and she's already with Makayla."

"Well, what big and tall store were you hanging around in?"

"That's a funny story. I found him at Ava's. The night with Patrick, who you made go home early. I had to be my own wingman. Remember that?" she asked.

"Oh, that's what you were doing."

"Yes, and he's who I was doing later that night. It was supposed to be this one-night stand, but then he showed up at my crime scene months later."

"Holy crap are you kidding me?" she asked.

"No. I am not kidding you. It was weird because I did not remember him, and I didn't remember that night. Then I did. Piece by piece and inch by inch."

Shelly leaned in close.

"How many inches are we talking about?"

"I really don't think you want to know."

"Yes, I do."

"He is practically perfectly proportioned," she said.

Allie spread her hands far apart again.

"Oh my God. YOU LIE!"

"Yeah, I do that a lot when I'm with him. Mostly on my back."

"Isn't he your first real serious, committed relationship?" she asked.

"No. I've had two other serious relationships. One ended kind of tragically, so I don't like to talk about it, and the other ended involuntarily for both of us."

"Alvarez?"

"Yeah, he's a great man. I knew he could do better than me. I wouldn't ruin his life so that we can be together."

"You know he's been single since you ya'll split up," she asked.

"No way! How do you know that?"

"Saddler in dispatch keeps me in the loop. Just in case I ever want to trade up."

"Oh my God, Shell." She shook her head. "He was never a relationship guy before I met him, so I guess he must have just returned to how he was."

"I think he still holds a flame for you, Allie. I know you guys had the booty call buddy system going for a while after you split. I think he just held onto the hope that one day you two would find your way back to each other, so he's staying single."

"He's another who was extremely skilled in bed, and his—"

The guys came back and halted the conversation. When they came back, Shelly and Bruss each did one shot. Allie and Dean each did two. After being there for about forty-five minutes and listening to appalling covers of Photograph from Nickelback, Oops I Did It Again by Britney Spears, a horrible rendering of Journey's Faithfully, and a surprisingly good cover of I'm a Wanted Man by Royal Deluxe, the karaoke master called out a familiar name.

"OK, coming up to the stage is Dean."

He stood up. Everybody looked at him since, you know, he didn't blend. Allie was in complete shock. He told her that he didn't sing.

He took the mike and said, "This is for my buttercup."

Then the music started for 'Here Without You.' His voice was terrific; it sounded like he was lip-syncing to the actual Three Doors Down. The words and the way he expressed them brought a tear to Allie's eye. She couldn't believe he had done this for her. After finishing, he stayed on stage, and they called Allie up.

"What am I doing up here?" she asked.

"Well. You said you like to do karaoke and can sing, so we'll sing."

"What exactly are we going to sing?"

The music started with Shallow, the Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper duet from A Star is Born.

They looked at each other as they sang. The tenderness you can see as they touched fingertips. They stared into each other's eyes. They didn't look at the crowd the entire time. All they did was look at each other. It was as if they were the only two people in the room. They were singing to each other, not the audience. Shelly thought it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. They got back to the table. Shelly turned to Patrick and slapped him on the arm.

"Why don't we ever do anything that romantic!" she yelled at him.

"Come on! I just took you to Applebee's like two days ago."

Shelly rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"All right, fine, I'll go put a request," Bruss said and sighed.

About a 1/2 hour later, Shelly and Bruss were called to the stage.

They did a rendition of Paradise by the Dashboard Light together, and that's all Shelly wanted.

Dean got up to go to the bathroom. On his way there, he accidentally bumped into a guy. The place was crowded, and it tends to happen. He immediately apologized to him. The guy looked at him.

"What, just because you're big you think you own the place?" the guy said.

"I'm sorry, really, I just bumped into you. I didn't mean to," Dean said.

"Really, because I think you believe that you're the shit. Making sure everybody stares at you."

"Bro, I am 6′ 6- and 250-pound people tend to stare."

"Well, you know what I think? I think you're 6′ 6, 250 pounds of pussy."

The guy was highly inebriated.

"OK, you know what? You've had too much to drink. You should probably go."

"Don't tell me what to do. What's wrong, big man? Nobody ever challenged you before?" he asked.

"Listen, dude, I suggest just walk away," Dean warned him.

Bruss came up behind Dean. "Is there a problem?"

Dean turned to Bruss. "No. I don't have a problem. I don't think there is a problem."

"Yes, there's a fucking problem. Your friend walks around here like he owns the place like he's the shit, and you know what? The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Bruss looked at the guy. "Man, you don't want to do this. You have had so much to drink it's fucking with your depth perception."

"Oh, I think I do."

He gave Dean a shove on his shoulder. Dean had about four inches on the guy and about fifty pounds. He didn't budge.

"Look, man, you don't want to do this," Bruss said again.

"No, I think I do."

He shoved Dean again. Again, he didn't budge.

"Look, dude, I'm giving you one more out, or we can do this outside. I don't know what you're trying to prove or who you're trying to prove it to, but I can't guarantee you'll walk back in," Dean said.

"Oh, I am so scared... cock sucker."

That was it. Dean was done being polite.

"All right if you insist," he said.

He looked at Allie and shrugged his shoulders. She and Shelly stood up and followed Dean, Bruss, the guy, and three of his friends out the door.

"What the hell is going on?" Shelly asked

"Well, dear, this guy seems to think Dean bumped into him on purpose because he wanted to start something."

"I hope your insurance premiums are paid up," Shelly said.

"I don't have to worry about insurance. Trust me, I know what I'm doing,"

He swung, trying to hit Dean with a sucker punch. It was a right hook. Dean caught his fist in midair and stopped it cold.

"Last chance, dude."

The guy kicked him in the knee, and Dean slightly wobbled. He turned to the crowd that had assembled in the parking lot.

"Did everybody see that," Dean asked.

Heads shook in agreement. The guy charged Dean. Dean took him by the side of the head and slammed his elbow into the other side twice. The man dropped.

His two friends then charged towards Dean. He caught the first one with a right hook to his temple and fell like a rotted tree. The other one was able to land a punch on Dean's chin. Dean put a stiff-arm palm into the man guy's chest, and he flew backward just like when Allie had kicked the man at the bar.

"I warned you," he said.

"He warned you," Bruss reiterated. "I would probably call 911 and make sure they're not dead."

Dean turned around, put his arm over Allie's shoulders, and walked back inside.

She looked up at him. "Baby, I couldn't have done it better myself."

Dean smiled. "Yeah, unfortunately, there wasn't a wall I could hit him with."

The man was one of the fifteen people standing in the group watching the altercation between the sasquatch and the idiot. He realized he would have to be very savvy in separating the two. He wasn't going to be able to do anything physical to Dean. He was going to figure something out.